Tournament at Home, Name in the Goblet
by Trucbiduleschouettes
Summary: This fourth year at Hogwarts is both exciting and dangerous for the twins; The Triwizard tournament is taking place at Hogwarts, but something is wrong with the names sorted out of the Goblet of Fire... With the threat of Voldemort's potential return and silly crushes, how are our dear twins going to deal with this new school year?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys!**

 **I hope you're doing well. Here comes the fourth part of my Harry has a twin!AU. I hope you're all happy to see the twins again! I sure am hehe.**

 **As usual, I still don't have a beta reader and since English isn't my mother tongue, there will be a few mistakes . I apologize for it and hope it will not bother your reading.**

 **Have fun! (Also, thanks everybody for your kind reviews on the previous part 3)**

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Rohini jolt awake, her senses alerted as she stared at the ceiling. She thought for a moment that it had been because of midnight pain in her arm but no, it didn't feel painful.

She saw something move on her left and turning her face, she realised Harry was now standing in front of the window, resting his forehead against it. Rohini sighed before standing up and walking towards her brother.

"Harry?" She said, one hand on his shoulder. Her brother tensed up under it. "Hey, what happened? Is it… is it your scar?"

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

"Well, you've been touching it while grimacing lately. Don't think I wouldn't notice; we live under the same roof. And there have been nightmares, too, right?"

"How do you know? You're half deaf." Harry said and Rohini rolled her eyes.

"I don't need to hear you to sense you're not good. I'm a light sleeper, you know?"

"Since when? You're always the last one out of bed." Harry said with a smile and Rohini elbowed him. "Ok,ok- that's not fooling you isn't it?"

"Not in the slightest." Rohini said. Then, she jumped on Harry's bed and waved at him to sit next to her.

Thranduil, her cat, opened his eyes and joined them by sitting on her brother's laps.

"So?" Rohini said, nudging Harry. "Care to tell me what's wrong?"

"You will not like it." Harry said, looking suddenly grim. Rohini lost her smile and frowned.

"Tell me, Harry. You can't just keep your worries for yourself."

"It's… Do you remember Professor Trelawney's prediction, last year?"

"The creepy one she gave us both?" Rohini asked. "The one- the one about Voldemort?"

"Yeah. And, do you remember back in first year, how my scar seemed to react to Voldemort's close presence?"

"What, is he close? Can you sense him?" Rohini asked, and Harry shook his head.

"That's not it, not really. I- I have nightmares. About him. There's… there's Pettigrew, too." He said, glancing at Rohini whose features harden.

Peter Pettigrew used to be one of their father's best friends, and also happened to be Rohini's godfather. He had betrayed the Potters thirteen years ago and framed Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, for his crimes.

He had run away a few weeks ago and Rohini was still full of anger every time she thought of the pitiful cowardly man.

"What…what do you see? In your nightmares?"

"I don't remember everything but… this time, there was someone. Someone else and- I think he got killed. They were in a darkened room and there had been a snake on a hearth rug..."

"Shit… Do you think it was real? I mean, like a vision?"

"I don't know. I mean, how would it work?"

"You have some kind of bond with Voldemort." Rohini said, remembering a conversation they had once with Dumbledore. "Remember, back in second year; Dumbledore said there was a part of Voldemort in us but mine got "killed" by the Basilisk's venom; yours didn't."

"That's still… Do you realise what it means? With Pettigrew's help, Voldemort could get his strength back." Harry said, his fingers running through Thranduil's short fur. "And if it happens-"

"If it happens, people will fight to stop him." Rohini cut her brother, determination in her green eyes. "It happened once; people will never stop fighting, Harry. Besides, Voldemort is probably extremely weak right now if he needs someone as lame as Pettigrew to help him survive."

Harry said nothing and Rohini realised his left leg was twitching. It made her frown; somehow, she could tell Harry was keeping something from her. What else could he remember from his nightmare that he didn't want to share with her?

"Harry-"she began, before pinching her lips.

No, she couldn't force him; she remembered someone telling her once that even siblings had to keep some things secret from each other. If Harry didn't want to tell her for now, then it was his right.

"We'll be fine." She said instead with a smile, ruffling her hand through her brother's messy hair.

"Rohini?" Harry said.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful." He just said and Rohini looked at him, taken aback, before giving him a side hug.

"You too, big brother." She said and some of the tension seemed to lift as Harry chuckled. "What? You're born first."

"You're weird, little sister." Harry said and Rohini grinned before yawning and announcing she was going back to bed.

"You should write to Sirius, if you're that worried. Or Professor Lupin." Rohini said sleepily as she slipped under her blanket.

They had received two letters from Sirius since they came back to Privet Drive. Both had been delivered, not by owls but by large, brightly coloured tropical birds. Hedwig, Harry's owl, had not approved of these flashy intruders; she had been most reluctant to allow them to drink from her water tray before flying off again.

Sirius's letters, which were now hidden beneath the highly useful loose floorboards under Harry's bed, sounded cheerful, and in both of them he had reminded the twins to call on him if ever they needed to.

Rohini woke up after Harry the next day, but she was the first one downstairs for she needed to cook breakfast. Technically, Harry and she weren't forced to make them anymore since the Dursleys had learnt about Sirius affiliation to Harry, but this habit was hard to kill and she had realised Aunt Petunia often burnt the twins' bacons when she was the one cooking.

When she arrived in the kitchen, the three Dursleys were already seated around the table. Uncle Vernon's large red face was hidden behind the morning's _Daily Mail_ , and Aunt Petunia was cutting a grapefruit into quarters, her lips pursed over her horse like teeth.

Dudley looked furious and sulky, and somehow seemed to be taking up even more space than usual. This was saying something, as he always took up an entire side of the square table by himself.

When Aunt Petunia put a quarter of unsweetened grapefruit onto Dudley's plate with a tremulous "There you are, Diddy darling," Dudley glowered at her.

His life had taken a most unpleasant turn since he had come home for the summer with his end-of-year report:

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had managed to find excuses for his bad marks as usual: Aunt Petunia always insisted that Dudley was a very gifted boy whose teachers didn't understand him, while Uncle Vernon maintained that "he didn't want some swotty little nancy boy for a son anyway."

They also skated over the accusations of bullying in the report - "He's a boisterous little boy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly!" Aunt Petunia had said tearfully.

However, at the bottom of the report there were a few well-chosen comments from the school nurse that not even Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia could explain away. No matter how much Aunt Petunia wailed that Dudley was big-boned, and that his poundage was really puppy fat, and that he was a growing boy who needed plenty of food, the fact remained that the school outfitters didn't stock knickerbockers big enough for him anymore.

The school nurse had seen what Aunt Petunia's eyes - so sharp when it came to spotting fingerprints on her gleaming walls, and in observing the comings and goings of the neighbours - simply refused to see: that far from needing extra nourishment, Dudley had reached roughly the size and weight of a young killer whale.

So - after many tantrums and many tears from Aunt Petunia - the new regime had begun. The diet sheet that had been sent by the Smeltings school nurse had been taped to the fridge, which had been emptied of all Dudley's favourite things - fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called "rabbit food."

To make Dudley feel better about it all, Aunt Petunia had insisted that the whole family follow the diet too. She passed a grapefruit quarter to Rohini who looked at her Aunt and, without breaking eye contact, opened the fridge to pick up the butter that she then spread on a piece of bread.

Not that Rohini needed to do so, except from sheer spite; the moment they had got wind of the fact that they were expected to survive the summer on carrot sticks, Harry had sent Hedwig to their friends with pleas for help, and they had risen to the occasion magnificently.

Hedwig had returned from Hermione's house with a large box stuffed full of sugar-free snacks. (Hermione's parents were dentists.) Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had obliged with a sack full of his own homemade rock cakes that were just as hard as, well, rocks.

Mrs. Weasley, however, had sent the family owl, Errol, with an enormous fruitcake and assorted meat pies. Poor Errol, who was elderly and feeble, had needed a full five days to recover from the journey.

As for Rohini's best friend, Padma, Hedwig came back with two Tupperware filled with rice and curry.

And then on the twins' birthday (which the Dursleys had completely ignored) they had received five superb birthday cakes, one each from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Sirius and Padma.

"She ate a piece of bread! With butter, too!" Dudley began to complain and Aunt Petunia tried to calm him down while Uncle Vernon pointed a threatening fat finger at Rohini.

"Do that again," he said, spit coming out of his mouth, "And we will kick you out of this house!"

"Wow, I'm really frightened by this opportunity." Rohini said between her teeth, not loud enough for her Uncle to hear her.

The doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon heaved himself out of his chair and set off down the hall. Quick as a flash, while his mother was occupied with the kettle, Dudley stole the rest of Uncle Vernon's grapefruit.

Rohini was going to make Harry's breakfast and ignore Aunt Petunia's grapefruit rule when she heard talking at the door, and someone laughing, and Uncle Vernon answering curtly. Then the front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper came from the hall.

Aunt Petunia set the teapot down on the table and looked curiously around to see where Uncle Vernon had got to. She didn't have to wait long to find out; after about a minute, he was back. He looked livid.

"You," he barked at Rohini. "In the living room. Now."

Raising an eyebrow, Rohini took another bread slice –making Dudley pull a new tantrum- and followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the next room. Uncle Vernon closed the door sharply behind both of them.

"So," he said, marching over to the fireplace and turning to face Rohini as though he were about to pronounce her under arrest. "So."

"So, what?" Rohini couldn't help but say and Uncle Vernon's little piggy eyes started to shine with anger.

"This just arrived," said Uncle Vernon. He brandished two piece of purple writing paper at her. «Letters. About you and your brother."

"Oh?" Rohini said, surprised. All their friends used birds to deliver their letters and they had no Muggle friends anyway. Who could have written to them? "Who's that from?"

Uncle Vernon glared at her, then looked down at the first letter and began to read aloud, just as Harry arrived inside the room and seemed confused to see them both here:

" _Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron._

 _As Harry might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports._

 _I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to school. Rohini is invited to join us whenever she want, too._

 _It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is._

 _Hoping to see Harry and (Rohini of course ) soon, Yours sincerely, Molly Weasley_

 _P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on_."

Uncle Vernon finished reading, put his hand back into his breast pocket, and drew out something else.

"Look at this," he growled.

He held up the envelope in which Mrs. Weasley's letter had come, and the twins had to fight down a laugh. Every bit of it was covered in stamps except for a square inch on the front, into which Mrs. Weasley had squeezed the Dursleys' address in minute writing.

"She did put enough stamps on, then." said Harry and Rohini burst in laugh.

"The postman noticed," Uncle Vernon said through gritted teeth. "Very interested to know where this letter came from, he was. That's why he rang the doorbell. Seemed to think it was funny."

"So - can I go then?" Harry asked.

A slight spasm crossed Uncle Vernon's large purple face. The moustache bristled from a furious battle as two of Uncle Vernon's most fundamental instincts came into conflict.

Allowing Harry to go would make Harry happy, something Uncle Vernon had struggled against for thirteen years. On the other hand, allowing Harry to disappear to the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer would get rid of him two weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, and Uncle Vernon hated having Harry in the house.

To give himself thinking time, it seemed, he looked down at the second letter and glanced at Rohini before reading:

" _Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,_

 _My name is Vidya Patil and I'm the mother of Padma Patil, Rohini's best friend._

 _I'm writing to you in order to ask you if our dear Rohini could spend next week at our home. It would be our pleasure to have her sitting at our table; Padma misses her just as much as Rohini misses Padma, I'm sure of it._

 _I had a talk with Mrs. Molly Weasley and her husband, and we come to an agreement that once the week is over, both Rohini and Harry could stay at their place for the remainder of the summer holidays._

 _If you do agree, then tell Rohini to send her answer as quickly as she can, and we will come to pick her up on Monday._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Mrs. Vidya Patil._

 _Ps: I do hope we have put enough stamps on this envelop. Molly told us it wouldn't be delivered otherwise."_

And just like Mrs. Weasley's envelop, the one send by Mrs. Patil was covered in stamps.

"Who are those women?" Uncle Vernon said, staring at the two signatures with distaste.

"You've seen Mrs. Weasley" said Harry. "She's my friend Ron's mother, she was meeting him off the Hog - off the school train at the end of last term."

Uncle Vernon screwed up his enormous face as though trying to remember something very unpleasant.

"Dumpy sort of woman?" he growled finally. "Load of children with red hair?"

Harry frowned. He thought it was a bit rich of Uncle Vernon to call anyone "dumpy," when his own son, Dudley, had finally achieved what he'd been threatening to do since the age of three, and become wider than he was tall.

"And who's this… this Patil woman?" Uncle Vernon asked Rohini.

"Can't you read? It's my best friend's mum." Rohini said.

"Best friend? _You_?" Uncle Vernon said, as if Rohini was the worst friend someone could think of. "Quidditch," he then muttered under his breath. "Quidditch - what is this rubbish?"

"It's a sport," Harry said shortly. "Played on broom- "

"All right, all right!" said Uncle Vernon loudly. The twins saw, with some satisfaction, that their uncle looked vaguely panicky. Apparently his nerves couldn't stand the sound of the word "broomsticks" in his living room. He took refuge in perusing the second letter, then went back to Mrs. Weasley's one.

"What does she mean, 'the normal way'?" he spat.

"Normal for us," said Harry, and before his uncle could stop him, he added, "you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."

Uncle Vernon looked as outraged as if Harry had just uttered a disgusting swearword. Shaking with anger, he shot a nervous look through the window, as though expecting to see some of the neighbours with their ears pressed against the glass.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that unnaturalness under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum colour. "You stand there, in the clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful back -"

"-Once you've worn them to the core…" Rohini mumbled, glancing at Harry's sweatshirt so large for him that he had had to roll back the sleeves five times so as to be able to use his hands, and which fell past the knees of his extremely baggy jeans.

She was herself wearing Aunt Petunia's ugly brown dress that fell down to her ankles.

"Don't speak to me like that, you little nasty-" Uncle Vernon began but Harry cut him.

"Okay, I can't see the World Cup and Rohini can't see Padma. Can we go now, then? Only I've got a letter to Sirius I want to finish. You know - my godfather."

"Ah, Sirius…" Rohini sighed. "Wonder if he had killed anyone, lately? Must be hard, to resist the urge…"

They watched the purple recede blotchily from Uncle Vernon's face, making it look like badly mixed black currant ice cream.

"You're - you're writing to him, are you?" said Uncle Vernon, in a would-be calm voice -but the twins had seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden fear.

"Well - yeah," said Harry, casually. "It's been a while since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn't he might start thinking something's wrong."

Rohini glanced at her brother proudly. They could almost see the cogs working under Uncle Vernon's thick, dark, neatly parted hair. If he tried to stop Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius would think the twins are being mistreated. If he told Harry he couldn't go to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry would write and tell Sirius, who would know they are indeed being mistreated.

There was only one thing for Uncle Vernon to do.

"Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy ... this stupid ... this World Cup thing. You write and tell these - these Weasleys they're to pick you up, mind. I haven't got time to go dropping you off all over the country. And you can spend the rest of the summer there. And you can tell your - your godfather ... tell him ... tell him you're going."

"Okay then," said Harry brightly. "How about Rohini?"

"She can go too, now LEAVE THIS ROOM!" Uncle Vernon shouted and the twins ran upstairs with a laugh.

"I'm so grateful for Sirius." Rohini said, jumping on her bed before tearing up a page of her journal to wrote her answer to Padma. "Do you think Hedwig could deliver this on her way to The Burrow?"

"Sure." Harry said, spotting his owl coming down from the sky and taking a step backward to let her in.

"OUCH!" said Harry suddenly as what appeared to be a small, gray, feathery tennis ball collided with the side of his head. Harry massaged the spot furiously, looking up to see what had hit him, and saw a minute owl, small enough to fit into the palm of his hand, whizzing excitedly around the room like a loose firework.

Thranduil hissed loudly and hid under Rohini's bed, his eyes shining dangerously.

Rohini caught the tiny bird like a baseball player and untied up a letter from its leg. "Isn't it Ron's new owl?" She asked as she handed up the letter to Harry.

" _Harry - DAD GOT THE TICKETS - Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum's writing to the Muggles to ask you to stay. They might already have the letter, I don't know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway_." Harry read aloud.

"Pig?" Rohini stopped him, looking at the tiny owl she was holding between her fingers, worried it would fly off again.

" _We're coming for you whether the Muggles like it or not, you can't miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad reckon it's better if we pretend to ask their permission first._

 _If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer pronto, and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday. If they say no, send Pig back pronto and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday anyway._

 _H_ _ermione's arriving this afternoon. Percy's started work - the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Don't mention anything about Abroad while you're here unless you want the pants bored off you._

 _See you soon – Ron_ "

Harry seized his eagle-feather quill once more, grabbed a fresh piece of parchment, and wrote his answer.

"I'll use Ron's owl so you can use Hedwig." Harry said as he folded this note up very small, and with immense difficulty, tied it to the tiny owl's leg as it hopped in Rohini's opened hands with excitement. The moment the note was secure, the owl was off again; it zoomed out of the window and out of sight.

Harry turned to Hedwig. "Feeling up to a long journey?" he asked her.

Hedwig hooted in a dignified sort of a way.

"Can you take this to Sirius for me?" he said, picking up his letter. "Hang on ... I just want to finish it." He unfolded the parchment and hastily added a postscript while Rohini tied up her own letter to Hedwig's other leg, telling her to deliver it to the Patils.

Then Harry tied Sirius' letter to Hedwig's leg; she kept unusually still, as though determined to show him how a real post owl should behave.

"I'll be at Ron's when you get back, all right?" Harry told her.

She nipped his finger affectionately, then, with a soft swooshing noise, spread her enormous wings and soared out of the open window.

Harry watched her out of sight, then crawled under his bed, wrenched up the loose floorboard, and pulled out a large chunk of birthday cake.

"Want some, too?" He asked Rohini who nodded and took a slice from Padma's cake. Or more likely, Mr. Patil since he was apparently the one doing the cooking.

"I can't believe we're gonna leave Privet Drive for the summer." Harry said, beaming.

"Well, I ain't complaining." Rohini said, and the twins looked at the beautiful weather outside, both thinking about the upcoming Monday.

Things promised to be exciting for them.


	2. Chapter 2

By twelve o'clock the next day, Harry's school trunk was packed with his school things and all his most prized possessions, minus the Marauders Map that Rohini had insisted to keep.

"You already have their journal, that's not fair!" Harry had groaned while packing.

"The world is not fair." Rohini said, grinning. "Ok, how about I keep it for half a year, and you get it for the rest of the year, and then I get it back, and-"

"Fine, fine, keep it for now." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "It's useless until we're back to Hogwarts anyway."

Rohini stick her tongue out at her brother before beginning to pack her own belongings. She didn't know at what time exactly the Patils would pick her up on Monday, and wanted to be ready for it.

She felt butterflies inside her chest as she thought about Padma. It was the first time the two of them would spend some time together outside Hogwarts and she was both excited and extremely nervous about it. (The fact she had a crush on her best friend might explain it, too.)

"You know," She said, fighting with her trunk that refused to close, "It's gonna be the first time you and I are being separated."

"Yeah, it's a bit odd." Harry admitted. "It's just for a week, though. You'll spend the rest of the summer with us at The Burrow."

"You bet I will! I refuse to stay at Private Drive while you're all having fun." Rohini said while sitting on her trunk. "Come and give me a hand, this bloody thing refuses to close! Gosh, I can't wait to be able to use magic again."

"Speaking of magic, are you going to take back your training with Professor McGonagall once we're back home?" Harry asked and Rohini couldn't help but smile; she, too, considered Hogwarts her home.

"You mean, the Animagus training? Of course! I never really stopped; I have taken a more theory-like approach for the summer. I will put everything in practice once we're back to school."

Over the course of their third year at Hogwarts, Rohini had taken private lessons with the severe but extremely skilled Professor McGonagall in order to become an Animagus, a person who's able to turn into a specific animal whenever they want. But the training was quite intense and took time.

The twins' father -James Potter-, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had become Animagi on their own through the course of three years. It was illegal to do so, but it was quite clear that none of them had ever been bothered by a bit of outlaw activities.

"Let's go and eat." Harry said, checking his watch.

"Here, I'll help you." Rohini said, grabbing one side of Harry's trunk to help him carry it downstairs.

The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable.

Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the Weasleys would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day.

"I hope you told them to dress properly, these people," he snarled at once. "I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all."

Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of welcome, but the twins knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating.

Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a fully grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London.

Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy.

Lunch was an almost silent meal and Aunt Petunia wasn't eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at the twins.

"So, Harry," Rohini said, as if they had been in a middle of a conversation, "do you know if Ginny will be here too? I'm sure she has grown up a lot!"

"Who's this Ginny?" Uncle Vernon asked, narrowing his eyes. Rohini ignored him, stabbing her cottage cheese with her fork.

"I don't know. I think Ron talked about Fred and George, though."

"Stop talking about those- those people!" Uncle Vernon barked, slamming his fist against the table. Then, he turned to Harry. "They'll be driving, of course?"

"Er," said Harry. "I think so?"

Uncle Vernon snorted into his moustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and expensive their cars were. But they doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari.

As they waited upstairs after lunch, Rohini opened her own journal and decided to draw Harry while he wasn't looking. She had gotten better lately and was rather proud of her sketches. She refused to show them to anyone however, for she considered them personal.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he stood in front of the window.

"You know, stuff." Rohini answered vaguely. Harry raised an eyebrow, but didn't try to make the conversation goes further.

Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry and Rohini went back downstairs and into the living room.

Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and the twins were sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car.

Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom.

But five o'clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly.

"They're late!" he snarled at Harry.

I know," said Harry. "Maybe - er - the traffic's bad, or something."

Ten past five ... then a quarter past five ... Harry was starting to feel anxious and it made Rohini felt nervous too. She pushed her brother out of the living room and into the staircase where they sat in silence.

At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room.

"No consideration at all."

"We might've had an engagement."

"Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about all of this…" Rohini said, biting her nails.

"Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, now pacing the living room. "They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d- AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"

The twins jumped up, Rohini's hand automatically going to her empty pocket where she usually kept her wand. From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified.

"What happened?" said Harry. "What's the matter?"

But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Grunting, the twins hurried into the living room.

Loud bangings and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it.

"What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?"

But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.

"Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake - tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-"

"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad - maybe he'll be able to let us out-"

There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"

"Mr. Weasley!" Rohini said, running to the fireplace.

"Rohini, my girl! I think- I think there's a little problem with this fireplace." She heard Mr. Weasley's voice on the other side.

The Dursleys rounded on the twinslike a pair of angry wolverines.

"What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?"

"They - they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, and Rohini fought a mad desire to laugh. "They can travel by fire - only you've blocked the fireplace - hang on -"

He approached the fireplace and stood up next to Rohini.

"Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me? It's Harry ... the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."

"Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They've got an electric fire," Rohini explained.

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... Let's think ... ouch, Ron!"

Ron's voice now joined the others'.

"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.

"Lovely place for holidays, don't you think?" Rohini said between two chuckles.

"Marvellous."

"Absolutely magical."

"Perfectly perfect."

"Boys, boys. . ." said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do... Yes ... only way. . . Stand back, Harry, Rohini."

The twins moved back but Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.

"Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to -"

 ** _BANG_**.

The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings.

Rohini began to cough, Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys.

"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah - you must be Harry's aunt and uncle! We've met once, haven't we?"

Right after his sons had rescued the twins, back in second year, Mr. Weasley had come to pick up their school stuffs back. He moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia.

Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and moustache and made him look as though he had just aged thirty years.

"Er - yes - sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry-"

And while he kept rambling about things none of the Dursleys could possibly understand, Rohini walked towards the twins and Ron to give them a friendly hug.

"Hey." She said, grinning. "I can't believe you managed to grow even taller! When will you stop?"

"Are you sure it's not you who keeps getting smaller?" Ron asked, using his hand to see where Rohini reached him. "Wow, I'm two head taller than you!"

"Oh, shut up." Rohini groaned, elbowing him.

"Hello, Harry, Rohini!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?"

"Yeah, it's in the corridor." Harry said.

"We'll get it," said Fred at once. Winking at the twins, he and George left the room. They knew where their bedroom was, having once rescued them from it in the dead of night; Fred and George were probably hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Harry and Rohini.

"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very - erm - very nice place you've got here."

Rohini burst in laugh again. As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.

Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles.

« They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably while pointing at different items. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are."

Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack.

Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could hear the clunk of his trunk behind and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father.

Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley.

"Ah, this is your cousin, is it?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.

"Yep," said Harry, "that's Dudley."

Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behaviour. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.

"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly.

Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside.

Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry's school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins. Dudley took a step backward.

"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."

He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one.

" _Incendio_!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.

Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.

"Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley.

"Coming," said Fred. "Oh no - hang on -"

A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction - big, fat toffees in brightly coloured wrappers. Rohini didn't miss the wink he gave her before cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, said goodbye to Rohini, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!"

Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.

"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk."

Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.

"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.

"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, waved at Rohini, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared.

Now Harry and Mr. Weasley alone remained.

"Well . . . 'bye then," Harry said to the Dursleys.

They didn't say anything at all.

"Goodbye, brother of mine." Rohini said, bringing Harry into a tight hug. No matter how happy she was about them having fun with their respective friends, she still felt odd about leaving her brother's side for a whole week. "And if you have nightmares, don't hesitate to write to me." She whispered to him.

"See you later. Say hi to Padma and Parvati for me." Harry said, hugging her back.

Then, Harry moved toward the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.

"Harry said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear him?"

"It doesn't matter," Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care."

Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder.

"You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"

"It's ok, Mr. Weasley, we're used to it." Rohini assured him.

Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."

"See you," said Harry, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream.

Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth.

"Fred." Rohini said as she realised that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue - and that a brightly coloured toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him. Of course he wouldn't have resisted the urge to eat one of the delicious looking candy…

"Harry, you better leave." Rohini said, giving one quick kiss on Harry's cheek before waving at him.

Harry nodded, took another breath and said with a grin "The Burrow!" before vanishing in a blast of green flames.

Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.

"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.

"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process it was the toffee -my son Fred - real practical joker - but it's only an Engorgement Charm - at least, I think it is - please, I can correct it -"

But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic- stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.

"Wow, chill!" Rohini shouted as another china figure shattered only a few inches from her face. "If you don't let him help, your stupid son is gonna die from suffocation!"

Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament.

"Mr. Weasley? You should petrify him first." Rohini suggested, kneeling behind an armchair.

Mr. Weasley blasted a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand and used Rohini's advice, petrifying her uncle for a few seconds before turning to Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

"This isn't going to hurt, I promise." He tried to reassure them, in vain. "Well, then-"

Two minutes later, Mr. Weasley was getting ready to leave after giving Dudley a normal tongue again and making sure to clean up the living room from all the mess left by the explosion and Uncle Vernon's wrath.

"Well, I guess I will see you in a week." He said Rohini with a tired smile. "Take good care of yourself, would you?"

"I will." Rohini assured him. "Goodbye, Mr. Weasley. Please say hi to Ginny for me. I miss her a lot."

"So does she." Mr. Weasley assured her, before stepping inside the fireplace. "The Burrow!"

And for the first time in thirteen years, Rohini found herself alone with the Dursleys.


	3. Chapter 3

Rohini might be bold when it came to getting on the Dursleys' nerves, but she wasn't suicidal either and so she decided to hide inside her room for the rest of the chaotic day.

She could feel Uncle Vernon's wrath from her bedroom as he loudly complain about The Weasleys and how Dudley almost got killed.

"Can you believe the nerves- What if we would have had to cut his tongue?"

Groaning, Rohini jumped on her bed and stared at the cracks in the ceiling. The room felt too quiet without Harry, even if he wasn't the most talkative person on earth. Time seemed to be frozen, the minutes feeling like hours.

Feeling quite bored, Rohini stood up again and slightly opened the door; Uncle Vernon was still shouting downstairs, pacing the living room. Closing the door, Rohini walked to the window and opened it to feel the fresh breeze against her face.

"I don't feel like staying here. Do you?" She asked Thranduil, who was lying on Harry's bed. The cat opened an eye, yawned, and jumped off the bed. "That's what I thought."

Opening their closet, she went through the old clothes Harry didn't wore anymore and found an extra-large, sleeveless purple hoodie. She put it on, and caught Thranduil that she put inside the hood.

"Let's go." She then said, cracking her fingers.

Rohini had always been a climber. Whereas it was to escape Dudley and his gang at school or to be at peace to draw, she used to found herself sitting in trees quite often.

Since the beginning of the summer vacation, Rohini had decided to learn how to climb out of the window again, something she hadn't done since she was nine and broke three bones after slipping and falling into the bushes.

"Let's try to stay in one piece this time." She told Thranduil who mewed softly. "Ok, now to catch the- woah!- ok, let's try again- yes!- now…"

Three minutes later, she found herself at a reasonable height to jump off and landed on her two feet with a grin. Letting Thranduil out of the hood, they began to walk down the street.

A few children were playing in the street under their nanny's wary eyes and two boys pointed at Thranduil with a smile. Waving at them, Rohini wandered for a while, looking at the clouds and trying to figure out what did they look like.

"This one looks like a witch hat…" Rohini said dreamily, pointing at a cloud. "And this one looks like Crookshanks, don't you think?"

"Mew." Thranduil just said, trotting behind her.

"Ok, let's see… I feel like indulging myself, how about you?" Rohini asked Thranduil who blinked twice. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Let's stop at Tesco!"

The walk to the store was longer than what she remembered, and Rohini was told by an employee that Thranduil couldn't get inside if she wasn't going to carry him. Rohini pulled him back into her hood, which seemed to amuse the chubby old lady, and came inside.

"I wonder what I'm gonna buy… I think I have 11£ left from when I changed my money at Gringotts last year…" She mumbled, going through her pockets. "Yep, that's it! Maybe I should buy something for Mr. and Mrs. Patils, but I don't know their tastes…"

"Can I help you?" The cashier asked her from her seat.

"No, thank you!" Rohini shouted back, before wandering through the different alleys. "I think Padma said they like chocolate with the orange bits in it! I will take one, then. Do you want some treats, Thranduil? Of course you do. I think I'm going to buy some shrimp crisps... yes, and a chocolate bar, too!"

Rohini didn't miss the amused look on the cashier's face as she watched her mumbling to her cat, but didn't get offended by it. She knew she must look like a funny girl, with her cat and hoodie way too big for her; it was almost dress length on her.

"Here's your change." The woman said, handing her a few coins. "Have a safe walk back home; I've heard some delinquents were fooling around lately. A little girl like you shouldn't be alone like that, it's not careful."

"I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle." Rohini said, remembering all the dangers she had faced in the past three years. "Thanks for the advice, though. Have a good evening!"

As she walked back to four, Private Drive, Rohini realised she had no idea how to go back to her room through the window; she could jump down a certain height pretty easily, but jumping up was slightly more difficult.

"Would be easier if I was an Animagus already." She sighed while unwrapping her chocolate bar and taking a huge bite.

It reminded her of Professor Lupin, another one of her dad's best friends. He had been the best DADA teachers Hogwarts had ever known, but because of his werewolf nature being revealed at the end of the previous year, he had to give up his position.

He was a kind man who had the nice habit to always carry chocolate around.

"Hey, fart face!" Someone shouted behind her.

Frowning, Rohini turned on her heels and groaned when she recognised Dudley's gang. Made of three other boys –Big Tom, Pete, and Dave- the four of them had been bullying the twins since primary school.

"What do you want, Stinky?" Rohini said shortly, not in the mood for a confrontation.

"Give us what you bought, and we'll not punch your ugly face too much." Dave said with a smirk, cracking his fingers menacingly. He reminded Rohini of Draco Malfoy's acolyte, Crabbe.

Rohini straightened up, trying to look down at them which was quite difficult when you were the shortest person around.

"I'm not scared of you, Rat face." She said.

Truth to be told, she should probably not be pushing her luck right now, especially since she didn't have her wand with her and couldn't use magic anyway. But as smart as she was, Rohini wasn't good at resisting provocation.

Big Tom clenched his fists and ran towards her, ready to hit. Rohini stepped aside and stretched her leg, making him trip over and rolls into a bush.

Thranduil jumped out of her hood and stood up in front of her, hissing.

"What? Scared of a girl and her cat?" Rohini said with a sneer. Dave charged her and Rohini barely avoided his punch before hitting him between the legs hard enough to make him kneel. Then, she began to sprint down the street toward the Dursleys' house; she might doubt her hand-to-hand skills, but not her running one.

She heard the boys chasing her and she told Thranduil to meet her back at the house before taking a sharp turn into a narrow alley; with time, she had memorised every shortcut she could manage to learn.

She heard one of the boys bumping into a bin and swearing. Rohini knew she should feel scared and worry about being caught, but on this instant she felt excited and careless.

Maybe being constantly surrounded by danger at Hogwarts had messed up with her brain, after all.

She jumped over a fence and took a shortcut by crossing a garden, apologising as an old man came out of the house, shaking his cane at her.

"Sorry!" She said, jumping over the opposite fence.

Finally she reached Private Drive and was glad to see that the door giving on the garden was open. Sweaty and out of breath, she took a look inside and saw the Dursleys siting in the kitchen.

As discreetly as possible, she got on her knees and crawled towards the door, hiding behind the couch when Dudley stood up to go to the loo. Then, Rohini made her way out of the living room and quietly went back upstairs.

Thranduil was already here, asleep on her pillow.

"Oh, Thranduil, you know I hate it when you do that!" Rohini moaned, before taking a look at the street through the window; Dudley's gang was standing up outside, looking furious about being outrun by a girl. "I guess it really was careless of me…" She sighed before taking off the hoodie and heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

She had just come back to her bedroom when a sharp pain ran through her arm, making her hiss; phantom pains hadn't happen in weeks now. Maybe she was supposed to take it at some kind of warning about her reckless attitude; being bold at Private Drive costed nothing; but being bold in the Wizardly world could cost her her life.

"Let's not do this again, shall we?" She said to Thranduil as she took another bite of her chocolate bar. "I wonder what Harry's doing…"

Rohini picked up the Marauders journal from under her bed and decided to read it again to pass time, trying to understand the unreadable handwriting of her father. She skipped the parts written by Pettigrew for she hated the reminders of his existence.

"Did I tell you that dad was a real prankster?" She asked Thranduil. "Yes, of course I did. I wonder how mum was. Not that I can ask Aunt Petunia..."

It was a shame really, that the two sisters hadn't gotten along well. Rohini couldn't imagine how different things would have been for Harry and she if Aunt Petunia had loved her sister just like Rohini loved Harry; she would have probably treat them far more better.

Feeling suddenly quite down, Rohini slammed the journal shut and grabbed the shrimp crisps that were now all crushed. Grunting, she ate them as fast as she could and went to bed early, wishing to fall asleep fast so Monday morning would be here soon.

The next morning, Rohini woke up feeling slightly nauseous and groggy. Cursing, she rushed to the bathroom and realised that her periods had arrived faster than expected. It sure wasn't her favourite way to begin the week and so it's with quite a grim face that she entered the kitchen to have breakfast.

The Dursleys were already here and Aunt Petunia pinched her lips when she saw Rohini's appearance.

"You're still in your pyjama? And what about your hair! Hurry and get dressed, we don't know when those people will come to pick you up."

"The earliest, the better." Uncle Vernon said, his face hidden by the newspaper he was reading.

"Can I at least have breakfast first?" Rohini said with exasperation.

"Didn't you hear your Aunt? Go get dressed!" Uncle Vernon barked and Rohini bit her tongue to hold back the nasty words she had in mind.

"Go choke on your grapefruits…" She mumbled on her way back to her bedroom where she quickly got dressed and picked up the last slice of birthday cake left that she carried downstairs and ate slowly in front of Dudley while maintaining eye contact.

"Mum! Why does she have a cake and I don't?"

"Maybe because I'm not as large as a whale?" Rohini asked, jolting as Uncle Vernon slammed his hands on the table, almost breaking it in two.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He shouted, his face turning purple from anger. "YOU LITTLE DISOBEDIANT, ADNORMAL-"

 _Ding dong!_

They all froze, listening as someone knocked at the door.

"It must be them." Rohini said, breaking the pregnant pause that had followed the doorbell.

"Petunia, Dudley, stay right here." Uncle Vernon said, looking suddenly extremely wary. Aunt Petunia grabbed Dudley and hugged him protectively.

Rohini felt suddenly quite nervous as she followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"They came way too early -Have absolutely no respect for people who wants to have a peaceful breakfast!- Abnormal-" Uncle Vernon was saying, fidgeting with the keyset as he tried to open the door that he opened with more strength than necessary.

Standing at the doorstep was Mrs. And Mr. Patil, dressed in bright colours, a warm smile on their faces. Mr. Patil was holding a box, probably filled with pastries he had made himself.

"Good Morning, sir." Mrs. Patil said, smiling softly as she offered her hand to Uncle Vernon. "You must be Mr. Dursley. I'm Vidya Patil and this is my husband, Anil. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Uncle Vernon blinked, ignoring Mrs. Patil's hand as he stared at the couple, his right eye twitching nervously.

Rohini was pretty sure he was resisting the urge to slam the door and lock himself in; Uncle Vernon had made enough nasty comments about foreigners to know that wizard or not, the Patils weren't welcome in his home.

"Rohini!" Mrs. Patil said brightly as she spotted Rohini who elbowed Uncle Vernon out of her way.

"Good morning." Rohini said, smiling awkwardly. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"No need to be so formal." Mrs. Patil assured her before bringing her into a warm embrace. "You look a bit pale. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"I hope we didn't come too early." Mr. Patil said, smiling apologetically. "The girls can't wait to see Rohini again and urged us to pick her up as soon as possible."

"The girls?" Uncle Vernon said and Rohini was sure that whatever he was imagining was probably racist and offensive.

"Yes, our twin daughters, Padma and Parvati." Mrs. Patil explained. "Padma is in the same house as Rohini, and Parvati is a Gryffindor, just like Harry. But you have probably heard about that already." She said before nodding at Mr. Patil who stepped closer and handed Uncle Vernon the box he was holding.

"I hope you will like them. I baked them myself." He explained, opening the box to reveal roundish coconuts pastries that Rohini had gotten for Christmas once and that she knew were excellent.

Uncle Vernon didn't move and Mr. Patil glanced at Rohini as if begging for help. Ashamed –though not surprised- of Uncle Vernon's attitude, Rohini grabbed the box and thanked Mr. Patil, saying she will take care of it.

Aunt Petunia and Dudley looked at her suspiciously as she joined them in the kitchen where she left the box on the table. She left it open on purpose, knowing Dudley would be tempted to eat them while fearing to be turned into a piglet if he did.

Back in the hallway, she realised Mrs. Patil was trying to make small talks with Uncle Vernon who only grunted in answer.

"Do you need help with your trunk, Rohini?" Mr. Patil asked and Rohini nodded. They both went upstairs, Mr. Patil glancing nervously at Uncle Vernon.

"I'm really sorry." Rohini apologised as she put Thranduil in his cage, making him hiss furiously. "My Uncle is, well, not fond of wizards."

"He doesn't seem to be fond of non-white people either." Mr. Patil said and Rohini apologised once more as she grabbed the other side of her trunk. A bit out of breath, the two of them came back downstairs where an awkward silence was floating.

"Do you have everything Rohini, dear? Good." Mrs. Patil said with a nod, before turning to Uncle Vernon with a cold but still polite smile. "Well, thank you for letting Rohini comes with us. We will make sure that she safely find herself back to her brother's side at the end of the week. Have a lovely day." She said.

"Bye." Rohini said. Uncle Vernon seemed to remember what had happened with Mr. Weasley for he grunted a "goodbye" between his clenched teeth and hurried to slam the door shut and lock it immediately after Rohini stepped out of his house.

"What a pleasant man." Mrs. Patil said, raising an eyebrow before turning to Rohini. "Let's go, then. I'm sure Padma is dying to see you again."

"The feeling is mutual." Rohini said, feeling like a prisoner who had escaped from his cell. Without a look back at four, Private Drive, she followed the Patils into a narrow alley between two houses.

Mrs. Patil looked around, made sure that no nosy old lady was watching them through her curtains, and pulled a tiny golden statue of an elephant out of her purse.

"I've heard from Arthur about what happened when he used Floo powder, so Anil and I have decided to travel by Portkey." She said to Rohini.

"Portkey?"

"It's an enchanted item wizards use to travel." Mr. Patil explained. "You just need to touch it."

"Neat." Rohini said, looking at the finely crafted details of the statue.

"Ready? One, two, three…"

It happened immediately: Rohini couldn't help but scream as it felt like a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward.

Her feet left the ground; she could hear Thranduil hissing and spitting loudly; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling colour and two seconds after, Rohini's feet slammed into the ground and she fell on her butt with a yelp.

Thranduil's cage fell next to her and opened from the shock. The cat jumped out of it and sprinted towards the closest furniture where he hid under, his eyes glowing in the shadow.

"Rohini, are you alri-"

"Rohini!"

Rohini felt her cheeks get warmer and way much lighter as she recognised Padma's voice. Before she could do anything, Padma was pulling her back on her feet and hugging her tightly with a happy laugh.

"I've missed you!" She said, taking a step back to look at her best friend. And as she got a look at her friend for the first time in a few weeks, the only thing Rohini could think was "wow".

Padma had always been beautiful, but there was something about her roundish cheeks, her long nose, her beautiful shiny eyes and her long, braided hair that made her prettier than ever.

"Oh, did you grow up a bit?" Padma said, taking a closer look at Rohini. "Yeah, you did!"

"Soon I will be taller than you." Rohini finally said, her cheeks a little bit red.

"In your dreams! I'm almost one head taller." Padma pointed out.

"Girls, I'm sorry to interrupt your overwhelming reunion, but I think it is time for breakfast." Mr. Patil said, waving his wand so that Rohini's trunk magically followed him out of the room they were standing in.

"Come, I will show us our room quickly!" Padma said, taking Rohini's hand and guiding her through the house. "Here is the prayer room, the in-law suite, the kitchen –oh it smells nice, dad!- the living room-"

And as she looked at their joined hand, Rohini thought that she could never be happier than on this instant.


	4. Chapter 4

Padma's bedroom was just as tidy as what Rohini would have expected, and Padma explained that order was a really important notion in her family. The main colours were crimson, purple and gold and Rohini wished her own bedroom wasn't so blank.

She also envied the fact both Patil twins had their own bedroom; even if she didn't wanted Harry to go back into the cupboard under the stairs, Rohini wouldn't mind having a room for herself again sometimes.

While Padma was showing Rohini her bookshelf and introducing her to the Wizardly classics, someone knocked at the door and Parvati entered, looking freshly off the bathroom.

"Oh, hi! I didn't know mum and dad were picking you up so early." She said when she saw Rohini.

"Heya. Hope I'm not bothering you or anything?" Rohini asked, suddenly nervous.

Parvati huffed. "Of course not. Padma is finally going to shut up about you now."

"You're the worst, Parvati." Padma said, throwing a pillow at her sister. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen my necklace? The one with the "P". I can't find it!"

"Why would I know where it is?" Padma asked.

Watching the twins arguing, Rohini began to relax; it was nice to see other siblings acting just like Harry and she.

"Girls, breakfast is ready!" Mr. Patil said from downstairs.

"Wait, I haven't done puja yet!" Parvati said. "Padma, you were supposed to wake me up in time, geeze. Meet you in the living room."

Parvati left and Padma rolled her eyes.

"Hungry I hope?" She asked Rohini.

"Me? Always." Rohini said and it's smiling that the two of them went downstairs and sat around the table that Mr. Patil had just finished to set.

"Where is mum?" Padma asked as she sat on Rohini's left.

"Changing; she just received an owl asking her to be part of the Quidditch World Cup Security Team, just in case; they are hosting more wizards than expected." Mr. Patil explained. "I've heard that your brother will be going?"

"Yeah, he was pretty excited about it!" Rohini said while discreetly sniffing the delicious smell coming from the different plates. "He really loves Quidditch, and I'm glad he's part of the Gryffindor team; I think it helps him deal with our problems in a way."

"It's true that you two don't have an easy life." Mr. Patil agreed as he brought up a teapot and poured it into five cups. "Both at school and home, it seems."

"Private Drive isn't our home." Rohini said without a thought. "I mean-"

"I understand." Mr. Patil said with a knowing look. "I personally disagree with Dumbledore and the Minister about letting you lives with the Dursleys."

"And so do I." Said Mrs. Patil as she and Parvati took place around the table. "Your uncle's manners were quite… disrespectful."

"Sorry about that." Rohini said, looking down and fidgeting her fingers. She was feeling a bit uncomfortable, not sure of what to do or say. It was odd, to have people finally acknowledge the wrongness of the Dursleys' behaviour.

"Dad, I'm sure Rohini can't wait to try what you made today." Parvati said, obviously willing to change the topic to something lighter. "Have you ever eaten Indian food before, Rohini?"

"Not really, no." Rohini said. "But if it tastes as amazing as it smells, I'm extremely willing to try it!"

"Good." Padma said, handing a plate of what looked a bit like thin pancakes to Rohini. "You should begin with some _pesarettu_ and accompany it with peanut chutney. And try the chutney with the kambu and jola rottis, too! That's those plates."

"Thanks." Rohini said, helping herself to a bit of everything. "What is this drink?"

"This? It's _thatte idlis_ , infused with _palak_ and beetroot."

"Neat…"

"You say 'Neat' a lot, don't you?" Parvati pointed out.

"Do I?" Rohini said, surprised. "I never realised."

"Yeah, you do." Padma said. "It's like Harry's friend –Ron, right?- he is always saying "Blimey" or "Wicked"."

"Oh, true!" Rohini said.

"We all have our little language habits." Mrs. Patil said while handing a plate of bamboo rice to her husband. "I really should hurry; Mr. Scrimgeour isn't fond of lateness."

"To ask you to work on your break day…" Mr. Patil mumbled, shaking his head. "I wanted to spend the day with you."

"We have plenty of days ahead of us." Mrs. Patil pointed out, sounding amused.

"Please stop, you're embarrassing." Parvati grumbled.

"Agreed." Padma said with a nod. "Rohini, do you want some black rice pudding? Dad make the best kind."

"Sure!" Rohini said, even though she felt quite full already. Still, she helped herself to a large portion of the pudding that was simply delicious. "Mr. Patil, you're the most talented cook I have ever met."

"Thank you, Rohini." Mr. Patil said with a little giggle. "Food is the best way to somebody's heart."

"That's how he seduced me." Mrs. Patil said with a grin and her daughters groaned, embarrassed once more.

"Have you ever considered opening a restaurant?" Rohini asked, genuinely interested.

"I did once; but then I realised I liked the idea of cooking just for the love of it better. I still make some food deliveries to our oldest neighbours from time to time; they seem particularly fond of my curry."

"Dad is such a Hufflepuff." Padma said, making everybody chuckle.

"I wonder if my dad used to cook, too." Rohini said and regretted it the moment the words left her lips. "I mean- sorry, it's not a good discussion topic either."

"It's alright, Rohini." Mrs. Patil said, taking her hand. "Loved ones should never be seen as a taboo, alive or dead."

"Thank you." Rohini said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. The Patils were just so different from the Dursleys, it was quite the abrupt change for her. "Mr. Patil? Do you think maybe you could teach me a recipe or two?"

"Of course." Mr. Patil said. "I'm always glad to have an apprentice."

"He means it." Padma told Rohini. "Parvati and I gave up after three minutes."

"A shame, really." Mr. Patil sighed. "You better find someone who will know how to cook, or you will end up starving to death."

'I wouldn't mind cooking for her.' Rohini thought as she glanced at Padma, who was now talking to Parvati about her missing necklace.

The rest of the day went so fast Rohini barely registered what actually happened. The only thing she knew was that she felt incredibly at peace and happy here. At some point, she sat with the Patil twins in the garden, doing small talks about anything and everything and watching bees.

"Do you think we'll finally get a DADA teacher that will stay more than a year, or they will eventually just stop teaching it?" Rohini said as Padma brushed her hair, complaining about how unhealthy they looked. "Outch!"

"Sorry. Hmmm, I think mum said she heard rumours about who might be up for the job, but she refused to tell us more…"

"I think she was bluffing." Parvati said as she braided Padma's hair and put some flowers in it. "You know how she is."

"Maybe we should ask dad; he's unable to keep anything secret for too long before feeling gullible."

"Poor him." Rohini said with a laugh.

Something suddenly tickled her hand and when she looked down, Rohini was surprised to find a ladybug climbing over her. Raising her hand to her eyes level, she stared at the pretty little thing.

"That's good luck." Parvati said, taking a closer look. "It's probably the only cute bug on earth."

"I like bumblebees." Padma said.

"Aren't they insects and not bugs?"

"Still looks cute."

"Agreed."

The ladybug unfolded her wings and flew away quickly. Smiling, Rohini closed her eyes and leaned slightly backward, enjoying the fingers in her hair. Padma was right; she never really took care of her messy hair or herself in general.

It wasn't that she considered it a waste of time or anything; she just didn't feel the need to do so. She found it quite enjoyable however when someone was taking care of her, be it Padma, Ginny or Luna.

An old memory came back to the surface; Rohini suddenly remembered how when they were children, Harry loved to play with Rohini's long hair, braiding them clumsily or tying them into unsymmetrical ponytails. The memory brought a soft smile to her lips.

With all the bad things that happened with the Dursleys, she came to forgot that she still had some lovely memories made at four, Private Drive.

As she opened her eyes again, Rohini noticed that there was a new sound in the air; it was a strange and captivating music coming from the kitchen and soon, Rohini recognised Mr. Patil's voice as he sang along.

"He's such a good singer!" Rohini said.

"Yeah, he is." Parvati agreed with some pride in her voice. "Mom's voice is decent, but she isn't as good. Padma is the worst though; she will make a baby cries with her voice."

"Thanks Parvati." Padma said, slapping her sister's arm. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"At least you're better than me." Rohini said with a smile. "I'm pretty sure I would scare the Bloody Baron himself if I dare to sing at Hogwarts."

"Such power." Padma said, faking to be impressed. Rohini rolled her eyes and threatened Padma to sing if she didn't stop teasing her.

Soon the day came to an end, and Rohini found herself helping Mr. Patil with the cooking, following his instructions closely. She enjoyed how passionate the man was about cooking; it felt like listening to Harry talking about Quidditch. As she pealed an onion, Rohini wondered if she, too, sounded passionate about certain things.

"You look thoughtful." Mr. Patil said and Rohini tilted her head but said nothing. Mr. Patil looked at her, seemed ready to say something, then closed his mouth again and went back to what he was cooking.

"You don't use magic much." Rohini said as she looked around. "I mean-"

"Magic is useful, of course," Mr. Patil began as he washed out some vegetables, "but for us, using our own hands to clean up or to cook reinforces our bonds with our religion. Though I have to admit I sometimes use a spell or two to make the bed." He said with a wink and Rohini smiled back.

"Harry and I are usually the one cooking and cleaning up the house. I used to feel like the Dursleys' personal slave. Didn't change much, but I don't let them order us around, not anymore." Rohini said, her eyes looking fierce.

"I'm tired of being used; if they try to bite, then I'll bite back. I will never let them hurt Harry ever again. I will never let them starve him or force him to do all the chores for them. Not anymore."

Rohini had never talked about this to anyone; even Padma didn't know the full extent of the Dursleys' mistreatments. She wasn't sure why she was telling this to Mr. Patil, a man she didn't really know yet. Maybe she had always been looking for this confession to happen, but had never find the right time for it until now.

Mr. Patil took the onion from her hand and began to chop it in silence.

"What Harry and you went through is quite terrible, and forced you to grow too fast." Mr. Patil finally said. "You're still children yet there's something more mature about you two that I can't see in Padma or Parvati. I will never understand why Dumbledore decided to leave you in an abusive household."

"Neither do I." Rohini mumbled as she stirred the vegetables cooking in the pan. A pleasant smell had begun to float around. "To be honest, I don't understand him at all. He is… I don't know. He knows more than what he shares and it makes me uneasy, like he's playing his own game."

"Interesting." Mr. Patil said. "Most people see him as a genius and a good man."

"It's not that he isn't a good person, and he's definitely one of the smartest men on earth." Rohini said. "It's just… I don't trust him, not entirely."

"Wise of you." Mr. Patil said, before putting his hand on Rohini's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "But for now and until the end of the week, I want you to completely enjoy yourself and forget about all of your responsibilities and troubles, ok? You're safe here. There's no Dursleys, no murderer hiding under the carpet. Just us. Promise?"

"I promise." Rohini said, feeling like her throat had tightened a bit; she wasn't sure why, but she felt tears in her eyes and she hurried to whip them off with her sleeves, embarrassed.

"Rohini? What's wrong?" Padma said as she came inside the kitchen, frowning. "Dad, what did you say?"

"It's nothing, just the onions." Rohini lied, pointing at the half chopped onion. "I've got sensitive eyes."

"Aw…" Padma said, coming closer and resting her chin on Rohini's shoulder. "Having fun, onions aside?"

"Yeah, I'm learning a lot." Rohini said, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. "I've never considered using so many spices before, but the result is awesome!"

"You need to come over more often, then." Padma said and Rohini smiled, thinking about how nice it would be to spend more time with the Patils than with the Dursleys.

"I think Harry would eventually miss me at some point." Rohini said. "And I'll miss him too, though he doesn't need to know I said that."

"I'm sure he's already aware of this anyway." Parvati said as she joined them. "Are you organising a secret meeting in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, we're brewing potions and planning witchy tricks." Mr. Patil said with a wink. Parvati rolled her eyes and went back to the living room. "Thanks for your help, Rohini. You're a good kid."

Rohini blushed. Was it how it felt to have good parental figures around? No wonder Padma was such a wonderful friend if she was raised by two of the kindest people Rohini had ever met.

"Thanks for letting me stay." She said to Mr. Patil as Padma took her by the hand and leaded her to the living room. Mr. Patil smiled, looking at the three girls in front of him fondly.

The rest of the evening went quite well, though everyone was a bit sad Mrs. Patil hadn't been able to join them for dinner. Parvati stayed with her sister and Rohini until quite late before going back to her own bedroom.

"I'm glad you came." Padma said after turning off the lights. A dim light was coming from the shining moon outside and Rohini could see Padma's silhouette, Thranduil asleep on her bed; he had always liked to sleep with Padma when she was around.

"Yeah, me too." Rohini said sleepily; she had eaten way too much today, but the food had been so delicious she had been unable to resist.

"Goodnight, Rohini." Padma said before yawning.

"Goodnight." Rohini mumbled, already half asleep.

"Meow." Said Thranduil, his eyes shining in the dark.

Rohini suddenly opened her eyes, feeling quite nauseous. Covering her mouth with her hands, she stumbled on her feet and exited Padma's bedroom as discreetly as she could, making sure to close the door before running to the bathroom where she began to throw up, a cold sweat covering her forehead.

Was it because of her periods or because she ate too much, she couldn't tell. Tears in her eyes and her vision quite blurred, she stayed on the bathroom floor for a while, feeling disgusting.

"Rohini?"

She barely had enough energy to look up at Mr. Patil who was standing at the doorstep, looking quite worried.

"'m so sorry." Rohini sobbed.

"Shhh, it's ok." Mr. Patil said, kneeling next to her and rubbing her back. "Do you want me to bring you a glass of water?"

Rohini nodded weakly, unable to talk. Mr. Patil left and came back later with a glass of icy cold water and a thin blanket that he wrapped around Rohini's shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Rohini sniffed.

"It's ok." Mr. Patil repeated. "I'm not angry, don't worry."

They sat in silence for a while, Rohini emptying her stomach two more time and being unable to stop crying; being sick wasn't really what she had imagined for her first night at the Patils' home.

As Rohini tried to stand up, they heard someone in the stairs and Mrs. Patil suddenly came into view, her expression quite grim and a certain tension showing in her jaw. She stopped when she spotted her husband and Rohini standing in the bathroom and hurried to join them.

"Oh, what's wrong dearie?" She asked when she saw Rohini's face.

"She's sick. I think she ate too much foreign food in one go, and her body didn't take it well."

"Sorry." Rohini said, looking down.

"It's alright, don't worry." Mrs. Patil said, rubbing Rohini's arms. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah." Rohini said weakly. "How was the World Cup?" She asked, and Mrs. Patil pinched her lips, her grim expression back.

"Did something happen?" Mr. Patil asked, frowning. "Was it the Irish? I know they can be a bit extreme when part-"

"It wasn't the Irish." Mrs. Patil cut him. She then glanced at Rohini, as if wondering if she should talk about it in front of her. "There was… an accident. I need to go back, we're still investigating. Just wanted to come and see how everything was going. Will you be alright?" She asked Rohini who nodded.

"We'll be fine, don't worry honey." Mr. Patil said, giving his wife a kiss. "Just, be careful ok?"

"I will." Mrs. Patil said before taking a deep breath. "See you in the morning. Take care, you two."

"Good luck." Rohini said and Mrs. Patil gave her a tired smile before disappearing. "I think I'm doing better now. I should probably go back to bed."

"Alright." Mr. Patil said with a nod, walking her back to Padma's room.

"Mr. Patil? Do you think… so you think everybody is safe?" Rohini asked, referring to the World Cup.

"I'm sure they are. Accidents happen all the time during big events like this one." Mr. Patil assured her and Rohini nodded before going back to bed.

It took her half an hour to fall back asleep, and her whole night was filled with nightmares of Harry being chased by a huge snake and people screaming everywhere.

When they woke up the next day, they learn by reading the _Daily Prophet_ that people dressed as Death Eaters had bewitched an innocent Muggle family and gone as far as to conjure the Dark Mark, Voldemort's symbol.

It's with dark circles under her eyes and an exhausted expression that Mrs. Patil joined them for breakfast, announcing that they had been unable to catch the culprits.

Thinking about Harry and their friends, Rohini found herself unable to eat for the rest of the day, filled with worries and scared about what such a sudden malevolent act could imply; Voldemort was growing stronger again, and his old friends were ready to rally him once more.


	5. Chapter 5

While Padma and Parvati were praying with their parents, Rohini went back to Padma's bedroom with the intention to write letters. She had quite a troubled mind since she learnt about the World Cup accident that morning, and she wouldn't be at peace until she wrote to Harry.

Going through her trunk to find some parchment and the pen she had stolen from Uncle Vernon a year ago, she pinched her lips with a pensive expression and began to write.

 _Dear big brother,_

 _I've heard about what happened last night after the match. That's truly horrifying and I hope the poor Muggle Family is alright now. I hope nothing bad happened to you or our friends. Is Hermione alright? It must have been awful for her, since she's a Muggleborn._

 _Please, be careful; if Voldemort's followers are finally acting up again, they might decide to target you in one way or another. Do not wander or act recklessly, ok? (Yes, I know I am one to talk but shhh.)_

 _I was sick last night because I ate way too much, but I'm feeling better now. Mr. and Mrs. Patils are really wonderful people, and I'm learning a lot from them! You should have seen Uncle Vernon's face when he saw them. What an awful jerk._

 _I can't wait to see you again. Take care of yourself, ok?_

 _Love you x_

 _Your dearest little sister, Rohini._

Folding the letter and putting it in an envelope, she nibbled her nail as she thought about something and she picked up two more pieces of parchment.

 _Dear Padfoot,_

 _I hope you are doing well. Is it sunny were you are staying? The last birds were absolutely stunning. I really hope that you're doing well._

 _Have you heard about the Quidditch W orld Cup accident? Harry was there and it makes me feel so worried; I know the place was overcrowded with wizards, but what if something had happen to him? We all know Voldemort can't wait to see him dead._

 _I think Pettigrew, this coward, ran back to Voldemort and is helping him to gain his power back. Sometimes I scare myself thinking that we should have killed him that night. I hate catching myself thinking like that, because it makes me just as bad as him, don't you think?_

 _I hope we'll meet again soon; there are still so many things I want to talk to you about._

 _Love Always,_

 _Rohini._

Rohini reread her letter and decided to let it as it was. She hesitated however about writing the third letter, and finally decided to do so. It went like this:

 _Dear Professor Lupin,_

 _I know that you're not our professor anymore, but it would feel weird to call you by another title. I hope you will not mind me contacting you._

 _I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you weren't able to keep your job at Mr. Sacramander's company; Luna told me about the accident with the rude customers. She sounds quite sorry that it forced you to resign. I do hope you will find another job opportunity soon. (_ _Are you sure you don't want to come back to Hogwarts?)_

 _Best Regards,_

 _Rohini_

"What are you doing?"

Rohini raised her head and smiled at Padma as her friend came inside and sat next to her.

"I'm writing letters. This one is for Harry, this one for Sirius, and this one for Professor Lupin."

"Is Sirius still on the run?" Padma asked, glancing at the door to make sure it was closed. Not many people knew the truth about Sirius and Pettigrew, and it would make things difficult if someone overhead their conversation.

"Sadly, yes. I'm still convinced that he would have been proven innocent if Dumbledore had tried harder. I mean, I'm pretty sure there must be a way to prove it!"

"The most important thing for now is that he's safe." Padma pointed out. "I'm worried about you, Rohi. I think you're trying too hard to help everybody. It's not a bad thing, but it can become a heavy burden."

"I'm stronger than what I look like, don't worry." Rohini assured her best friend while flexing her arms. Padma rolled her eyes with a huff. "Really, I'm fine and I promise to stop meddling into people's business if it becomes too much. Ok?"

"Ok." Padma said. "Do you want to borrow Rhyah?"

Rhyah was the twins' owl and Rohini grimaced; the bird didn't seem to like her for every time Rohini got close, Rhyah tried to pinch her with her beak.

"I will give her those letters for you, if you want." Padma said quickly and Rohini agreed. Padma disappeared for a minute before coming back, a cup of tea in each hand.

"Here, dad gave me this. Says it might ease your stomach?" She said, tilting her head in confusion and Rohini explained that he had caught her being sick the previous night. "Oh no, really? I'm so sorry!"

"What for? It's my own fault for being unable to contain myself when eating." Rohini sighed. Padma didn't look at peace as she looked down at her feet. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I was just hoping you would have had a very good time at home, but I feel like everything is turning sour…"

"Hey, listen to me," Rohini said, taking Padma's hands, "I honestly can't remember the last time I've been this happy, ok? I love your home. I love your parents and watching you interact together. I love the cultural differences, the songs, the food, listening to you and Parvati gently quarrelling…"

She was now playing with Padma's fingers. "I love every single minute spend here, Padma. It's more than what I could have asked for, trust me." She finished, looking into Padma's eyes in hope to make her understand how happy she felt.

Padma looked as if she was going to say something but she just smiled and rested her head against Rohini's shoulder.

"I'm glad that you feel this way, then." She said and Rohini felt her heartbeat getting faster. "I love having you here with us, too."

"Glad that the feeling is mutual, then." Rohini said with a chuckle and she felt Padma smiling as they both looked at their entwined fingers.

"Padma, I-" Rohini began but the door opened at the same time and Parvati came in.

"Hey, just wanted to tell you I-"She began before stopping, her eyes stuck on Padma and Rohini's hands. "Oh."

"Heya." Rohini said, quickly dropping Padma's hand, her cheeks burning. "Did you finally find your necklace?" She asked and Parvati blinked a few times before showing the necklace she had in her hand.

"Yeah, mum found it under a pillow. I have no idea how it got there, I'm pretty sure I haven't sat on the couch in two days!"

"Memory troubles, already? You're such a grandma." Padma said and Parvati stuck her tongue out childishly. "Want to play a game with us?"

"Depends. What were you planning to do?" Parvati asked as she sat next to her sister. "I'm not playing another muggle game."

In the end, the two sisters ended up playing a wizard game of cards while Rohini doodled in her journal. She refused to let her friend see what she was drawing, still self-conscious and worried they'd find it ugly.

"It's funny how you're pretty confident in your magical skills but doubt everything else about yourself." Parvati said as she put the cards back into the box. "I mean, you only look confident when you can use your wand. Hey!" She yelled as Padma slapped her arm.

"You're really not the Queen of subtlety, are you?" Padma said with a frown before turning to Rohini. "Don't listen to her."

"Well, she isn't wrong." Rohini sighed. She looked at her journal; it was full of paragraphs were she was both sounding confident and extremely self-doubting. "Maybe I should work on it."

"You have every reason to be more confident in yourself, Rohi." Padma said.

"I could give you some beauty tips, too." Parvati said with a wink and Rohini rolled her eyes. "Fine, no beauty tips."

"Let's see if dad needs some help to set the table instead of spreading nonsense." Padma said and the two others followed.

Over the next days, Rohini received two answers to her letters and was relieved to know Harry was alright and having the time of his life at The Burrow. She also learnt about Fred and George's plan to open their own tricks business and was surprised to learn the two oldest Weasley boys, Charlie and Bill, were also staying over.

Sirius, probably hiding in a tropical place, hadn't answered her yet but Rohini wasn't worried about it. As for Professor Lupin, he joined a huge chocolate bar to his letter and told her he appreciated her concern and hoped she was doing alright.

On Saturday, Mrs. Patil announced that they were going to Diagon Alley to buy the annual school supplies.

"Rhyah just came back with your Hogwarts letters." She said, handing one to each girl over breakfast.

"Errr… What's "dress robes?" Rohini asked, feeling quite stupid as she stared at the curved lines.

"You know, robes for fancy, special occasions." Parvati said.

"Wonder why we'll need one though." Padma said with a frown.

Mrs. Patil smiled knowingly, an amused tinkle in her grey eyes.

"You know something!" Padma said and her mum raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet. "Oh my gosh, you do!"

"Muuum, come on, tell us!" Parvati moaned before turning to her dad.

"Don't ask me." He said before standing up and running away to the kitchen, raising his hands in the air.

"Dad! You know about it, too!" Parvati said, going after him.

"He has no chance against Parvati." Padma said and Mrs. Patil sighed.

"Guess he'll need some support." Mrs. Patil said, joining her husband and daughter.

"We should get ready." Padma told Rohini and they both went back to her bedroom. "I really wonder what all the fuss is about, though…"

"Yeah, me too. I mean, party dresses? That sound like a Gilderoy Lockhart plan." Rohini grimaced, remembering the fancy stupid man that had been their so called DADA Professor the year before Professor Lupin.

"I wonder what he's up to, now…" Padma said.

"Well, I don't." Rohini grumbled and Padma elbowed her with a puff. "What? He was an idiotic coward!"

"Still." Padma said and Rohini rolled her eyes before picking up Thranduil to give him a little kiss on the nose. "What kind of dresses do you plan to wear?"

"I… have absolutely no idea." Rohini sighed. "I was thinking… maybe you could help me choose?" She asked, nervously playing with her fingers.

"Oh, of course!" Padma said, looking surprised. "I'm sure we'll find something. Mum and Parvati are really good at finding suiting clothes."

"I usually go with the most practical items." Rohini admitted. "That's why I wear those." She said, pointing at the kaki bermudas she was wearing. It wasn't pretty at all, but she liked it more than Aunt Petunia's ugly long skirt and dresses.

"Girls? Ready to go?" Mr. Patil asked from downstairs.

"Yeah!"

"We're going to use Floo Powder this time." Mrs. Patil said, handing a tiny box to Rohini while standing up next to the unused fire set.

"Ok." Rohini said, feeling nervous. She couldn't stop thinking about that time Harry mispronounced Diagon Alley and ended up lost in a dark alley until Hagrid found him by cheer luck.

"You should take off your glasses, just in case." Padma said and Rohini nodded, putting them into her pocket. Then she took a deep breath, looked at the Patils friendly faces, and shouted "Diagon Alley!"

She was getting used to the floo powder effect on her, but it's still slightly dizzy that she arrived at the Leaky Cauldron where Tom, the bartender, welcomed her with his crooked smile.

"Miss Potter! It's a pleasure to see you again!"

"Hello Tom." Rohini said while shaking his hand as Padma appeared in a cloud of ashes.

"Would you like a table?" Tom asked Mr. Patil as he was the last one to join them.

"Later perhaps; those young ladies need to buy their supplies first." Mrs. Patil said and they both exited into the backyard.

Rohini would never be able to describe how good it felt to be back to Diagon Alley; it was such a welcoming feeling, as if she belonged right here. She recognised a few familiar faces in the crowd and lowered her head when she recognised Collin Creevey, an enthusiastic little boy that worshiped Harry.

"Let's get the practical things first, and then the robes." Mrs. Patil said.

"I think I've finally grown enough to buy new school robes!" Rohini said proudly; she was so short that she had been wearing the same ones since her first year.

"It's a miracle." Parvati laughed and Rohini pretended to be offended.

They stopped at Gringotts first to get the money they'll need. Rohini could feel her little pouch getting lighter and lighter as time flew away and after taking a short break to eat ice creams, they finally got to the point of buying the dress robes.

Rohini felt slightly less enthusiastic, standing behind as the twins began to look around. A fat charming old lady asked her if she needed anything and Rohini stuttered that no, she was all good for now.

"Look who is trying too hard to look good." A cold, mocking voice said behind her and Rohini clenched her teeth and turned her head to look at Malfoy who had just entered the shop. "I doubt anything here will suits you, Potter. Not with such an ugly face."

"Oh, because you think they're making clothes for rats like you here? Sorry Malfoy, but you've got it wrong; the pet shop is next door." Rohini snapped back.

Before Malfoy could answer, a couple entered the shop and called his name; Rohini frowned when she recognised Lucius Malfoy, a truly despicable man and supporter of Voldemort who was still somehow high graded within the Ministry of Magic.

"Draco, Draco." He said, his cold eyes falling upon Rohini. "What did I say about wasting your time with that kind of people?"

"Lucius." The woman next to him said in a stern voice, a hand on his forearm and the other on Draco's shoulder.

"Rohini?" Mrs. Patil asked, coming closer. "Look what I've found, I think it would suits- oh." She stopped when she saw the Malfoys. "Lucius, Narcissa." She said with a nod before grabbing Rohini by the shoulder and pushing her towards the opposite side of the shop.

"I wasn't going to make a scene." Rohini mumbled.

"I know. But it's wiser to recall when dealing with people like the Malfoys." Mrs. Patil said before smiling. "So, what do you think of those?" She said, showing Rohini two different robes. "Padma told me your favourite colour was purple, and I thought bottle green would go well with your eyes."

"Huh." Was Rohini's oh so eloquent answer.

"Maybe she should try them." Padma said, saving Rohini from further embarrassment. She was herself wearing robes of bright turquoise. Rohini hoped her cheeks weren't as red as she feared them to be.

"You're… you're looking great." She said, looking down.

"Thank you!" Padma answered, beaming. "Now, your turn!" She said, pushing Rohini into the changing stall and closing the curtain behind her.

Rohini stood up for a whole minute just staring at her reflexion before actually beginning to undress. It's clumsily that she put the first dress on, hissing as her hair got stuck into the side zipper. She looked at herself, hopping to feel pretty but only felt disappointed. The purple dress was beautiful, yes, but she looked just as skinny and dull as before.

"How is it going?" She heard Padma from the other side. "Show us!"

With a resigned sigh, Rohini pulled the curtain opened and crossed her arms, her shoulders slightly slouched.

"Here comes nothing." She mumbled.

"Oh…" Padma said before giggling. Rohini looked away, ashamed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not making fun of you! It's just so- so different!"

"I think this shade of purple is too flashy for you, though." Parvati said with a frown. "I'm going to see if I can find something lighter."

"Please don't." Rohini said, mortified, but Parvati was decided to do as she pleased.

"Maybe you could try the green one? See if you feel better in it?" Padma asked and Rohini nodded, hurrying to hide back inside the stall.

The second robe was easier to pull on and Rohini had to admit she felt slightly less miserable in this one; it was actually rather fluid and pretty light. The sleeves were slightly opaque and she liked the vaporous effect of it.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" Padma said excitingly when Rohini emerged, dancing from one foot to another. "Mum was right, green suits you!"

"Thanks." Rohini said with a shy smile. "I like it a bit more than the previous one."

"Wow, mum was right; this one looks good on you!" Parvati said, coming back with a third robe, lilac this time. "Mind trying this one, still?"

"Alright, alright." Rohini sighed. "But that's the last one, ok?"

"Ok." Parvati said, resigned. "Now, off you go!"

"Yes Ma'am." Rohini said before closing the curtain again.

She had to admit, Parvati's tastes were as good as her mother; Rohini liked the softness of the colour and how light it felt, as if she was covered with feathers. She was slightly panicked at the idea of having to choose, and decided to leave it to the Patils.

"Ok, that's going to be hard." Parvati said, frowning. "Both look good on you. Are you sure you don't want to try another one?"

"Certain." Rohini said shortly. "So… which one should I choose?"

"I vote for the green one." Padma said.

"So do I." Mrs. Patil said.

"Lilac, obviously." Parvati answered.

The four of them turned to Mr. Patil, who had been sitting a few steps away. He gulped, probably wishing he hadn't been asked his opinion.

"I like the lilac one." He said and the girls groaned.

"Dad, now it's a straw!" Parvati complained.

"How about buying them both, then?" Mr. Patil suggested.

"I don't need so many dresses." Rohini said.

"Are you sure you don't have any preference?" Parvati asked.

"Yeah, pretty sure." Rohini said, glancing at her reflexion once more. "Maybe I could choose with Rock, Paper, Scissors…?"

Five minutes later, Rohini and the Patils finally left the shop, the lilac dress folded in a bag. She had been ready to choose the bottle green dress robe when she had spotted Malfoy trying a robe of the same colour and she had vehemently announced that the lilac one would do.

"See? I have the best tastes." Parvati said to Padma who raised her eyes and huffed.

"Well, now that it's settled, let's dinner at the Leaky Cauldron before leaving." Mr. Patil suggested as he pushed the door of the pub open.

"I'm paying." Rohini said quickly.

"That you're not." Mrs. Patil said.

And so Rohini didn't.


	6. Chapter 6

Rohini's last evening at the Patils 'place arrived way too fast for her likening and it's quite melancholic that she began to pack all her stuff into her truck.

"We'll see each other again soon." Padma said, trying to comfort her as she handed Rohini her books. "Besides, you're going to be with Harry again. Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I am." Rohini said over a sigh. "I just felt so at home with you."

"It's not a farewell; you're always welcome here, do you understand?" Padma asked and Rohini nodded. "Here's your Divination book. Oh, how about we try to read each other's future in tea leaves?" Padma suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Rohini said with a shrug. Truth to be told, she wasn't sure she possessed a third eye or a mystical connection to fate but Padma's prediction were usually rather accurate.

Her friend said she'll go get two cup of tea, and Rohini found herself alone for a few minutes. Picking up Thranduil, she petted him while standing up in front of Padma's window, looking at the pedestrians in the street.

She smiled at the sign of a couple walking up the road while holding hands with their cute little girl. For a moment, she tried to picture herself and Harry doing that with their parents or Sirius. How different would they have been if Pettigrew hadn't betrayed the Potters?

"Don't think about it, Rohini." She scolded herself.

"Think about what?" Padma asked, holding a steamy cup of tea in each hand.

"About how I'll miss this place." Rohini said. It wasn't technically a lie for she did regret not staying any longer. "Thanks." She said as Padma gave her the golden cup.

They drank in silence, Rohini hissing as she burnt her tongue twice, before exchanging the two cups. Rohini grimaced.

"I honestly hope you're not expecting too much of it, because I'm not even sure what those are supposed to be."

"Here, it might help you." Padma said, handing her own Divination book to Rohini.

"You don't need one?" Rohini asked, surprised.

"Well, I've actually learnt and memorised every symbols and their meanings with Parvati." Padma admitted, blushing. 'We did small reading for each other during the past few weeks.

"Wow, neat." Rohini said, impressed. "Ok, should I begin then?"

"Sure!"

"Ok. So…" Rohini said, taking a look at the page before looking back at the cup. "I think I see…an Ace of Hearts –it shows affection and happiness in the home. No surprise here." Rohini said and Padma nodded with a smile.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"Hmm… There's a bird… I think it's a… yes, it's probably a robin! Which is apparently a symbol of good fortune, loyal friends, and happiness in love. Why are you always the lucky one when it comes to fortune telling?" Rohini complained.

"Maybe your future will be better this time?" Padma said, before taking a look at Rohini's cup. "Or maybe not. How come you're so unlucky?" She said, bemused. "There's a Saucepan. It's an indication that many troubles will befall you, and your courage will be tested in meeting them."

"Great." Rohini groaned. "Can you see if I'll be attack by a Basilisk or by a werewolf this year?"

"Don't joke about something so serious." Padma scolded her before reporting her attention to the cup. "Those roundish forms look like onions. Oh no… it means you may expect that something which you supposed was a secret will be discovered, possibly through treacherous friends."

"Good thing I'm not easily ashamed." Rohini said, trying to lighten the mood. She thought about her friends and refused to believe that any of them would betray her; they weren't cowards and traitors like Pettigrew.

"Still, that's not good…" Padma said, biting her lips before shaking her head. "Let's forget about it. Dad asked me if you wanted to go help him with cooking? He wants your last dinner here to be unforgettable."

"He really doesn't need to do so." Rohini said, blushing and secretly pleased. "I'll go help him!"

"I'll join you soon, needs to clean up my room first." Padma said and Rohini nodded before going downstairs. She could hear Mrs. Patil humming in the garden and Mr. Patil was singing along while chopping vegetables.

"Ah, Rohini!" He said with a smile when he saw her. "Come here, I have a new recipe to show you!"

"Really?" Rohini asked, coming closer. "Oh, what's this?"

"It's yucca; I don't use it often since it's quite expensive, but I've read this recipe yesterday called "Yucca con Mojo" and it sounds quite interesting."

"What do we need?" Rohini asked, putting on Mrs. Patil's apron. Mr Patil slid a piece of paper towards Rohini. It read:

 _1 1⁄2 lbs yucca root, halved & in chunks_

 _1 teaspoon salt_

 _1 lime, juice of_

 _6 garlic cloves, mashed_

 _1 teaspoon salt_

 _1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice_

 _1⁄2 cup olive oil_

 _1 onion, chopped fine_

"I just chopped the onion. Could you chunk the yucca root for me please?"

"Of course!" Rohini said, happy to oblige. It's with ease that she moved around the kitchen, picking up knives and spices and working her way through the recipe with Mr. Patil's help. At some point Parvati and Padma came to see how it was going, trying out the sauce when their dad wasn't looking.

"Place yucca in saucepan and add salt and lime juice and bring to a boil: done! -Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender about 30 minutes : it's over! -Drain and keep warm: here I go! Mash garlic cloves into salt with mortar and pestle; wow the smell is so strong it would kill a vampire… -Add garlic, lemon juice, and onions to olive oil in a separate pan, heat until bubbling, then pour over yucca."

"Here, it's done!" Mr. Patil said before reading over Rohini's shoulder. "Toss yucca & sauce "lightly", cooking to saute over medium heat till barely brown but not crisp."

"Well, it looks like we've done it." Rohini said with a proud grin.

"Hm hm." Mr. Patil agreed with a nod. "Only one thing left…"

"Really, what?" Rohini asked, looking back at the recipe.

"Well, to try it of course!" Mr. Patil said. "Padma, Parvati, have you finished setting up the table yet?"

"We just did, yeah." Parvati said. "I'll go see if mum is ready."

"Is she working again tonight?" Rohini asked as she brought the plates to the living room.

"Unfortunately, yes." Mrs. Patil said as she joined them, her hair being magically brushed and tied up by an enchanted comb. "The Minister has been so busy since the Quidditch World Cup; the number of minor accidents targeting Muggles had increased quite significantly."

"That's terrible." Padma said with a shudder.

"Let's talk about something else." Mr. Patil suggested.

"Like what?" Parvati asked.

"How about trying out the new recipe Rohini cooked just for us?" Mrs. Patil suggested and Rohini blushed.

"It wasn't too hard." She mumbled before helping herself to the yucca. "Thanks for the meal!"

Dinner last longer than usual, the girls trying to enjoy their last few hours together as much as possible. As Mrs. Patil left for work, the girls stayed up for one last cup of warm beverage with a spoon of honey before Mr. Patil sent them off to bed.

"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Parvati said with a yawn as she left Padma's bedroom. "Don't forget to wake me up, Padma!"

"Why don't you just use an alarm…" Padma said and Parvati shrugged before closing the door behind her. "Really, she's just like a spoiled baby…"

"And yet, you will still wake her up, right?" Rohini pointed out with a knowing smile.

"Of course I will." Padma sighed in defeat before slipping under her blanket.

Rohini turned off the light and went to bed too. They laid in silence for a while, staring at the ceiling and listening to Thranduil's purrs.

"Say, Rohini…" Padma suddenly said in a hushed tone, "do you really have a secret you fear someone will discover?"

"I-" Rohini began before closing her mouth.

'What if I told you that you were this secret?' She wanted to say. 'What if I told you, you're the person I want it to stay a secret from?'

"Not really, no." Rohini said instead. "I mean, I don't want people to hear about Pettigrew being my godfather, but it's more because I'm disgusted about it than anything."

"Fair enough." Padma said before yawning. "I can't believe it's your last night here."

"Yeah, it will feel odd not to sleep next to you anymore." Rohini admitted. "I'm sure Thranduil is sad, too."

As if agreeing with her, Thranduil let go of a tiny meow and rubbed his head against Padma's cheek, making her giggle.

"Silly cat."

"Silly me."

"Silly you."

"Idiot."

"Love you." Rohini said before it was too late.

"Love you too." Padma said sleepily. "Goodnight, sleep tight!"

"Goodnight." Rohini forced herself to say, though her whole body was like petrified and her chest seemed to tighten. She couldn't believe what she had just accidentally spilled; luckily for her, Padma hadn't taken it for anything than a friendly declaration, not realising the real impact of those words.

Yes, Rohini did have a secret she wanted to take off to the grave. And thanks to the spur of the moment, Padma had been close to discover it.

'Please, don't let it happen anymore.' Rohini begged, hiding herself under her blanket. 'Please, please, please…'

Finally, the next morning came and so did the end of Rohini's stay with the Patils. Since Mrs. Patil was at work (an urgent owl had arrived at dawn to require her presence), Mr. Patil was the one in charge of the house once more.

"Parvati, don't let your slippers in the middle of the corridor, someone could trip over them! Padma, have you seen my wand? Oh no, I'm so sorry Rohini, I didn't mean to step on your feet- Parvati, I saw you eating this slice of bread!"

Rohini, looking dreadful for the lack of sleep, kept dazing off while eating breakfast.

"Smile!" Parvati and Padma suddenly said, passing an arm around her neck before a white flash blinded her; it had come from an old camera that Mr. Patil was holding.

"Here, a little memory from your time with us." He said with a smile as he handed up the sepia picture to Rohini.

"Thank you." She said, feeling slightly emotional as she looked at the three of them, looking tired but happy. "Thank you so much." She repeated again and Mr. Patil squeezed her shoulder before announcing he was going to get her trunk downstairs.

"Padma, did you wrapped up the thing?" Parvati asked her sister and Rohini looked at them, confused.

"Of course I did." Padma said. "It's under my purple sweater, in my closet."

"Ok." Parvati said before leaving.

"What is she talking about?" Rohini asked but Padma just smiled at her mysteriously.

"Tada!" Parvati said as she came back, holding a tiny orange box. Rohini blinked.

"Is it… is it for me?" She asked and the twins nodded. "Oh my gosh, but I- I didn't get you anything!"

"Shhh, just open it!" The girls urged her.

With trembling fingers, Rohini took off the tiny purple ribbon and opened the little box where she found a silver necklace with the letter "R" as a pendant.

"It's to match with ours." Padma said, pointing at the twins' silver "P" necklace.

"Did you give her the necklace yet?" Mr. Patil asked as he came back, pulling Rohini's trunk behind him. "Ah, yes you did. Do you like it?"

Rohini opened her mouth, ready to thank them… and began to tear up a bit.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry it's just… it was so unexpected, I-… you're all so kind and I- The Dursleys never got us anything like that and-"

"Shhh, it's ok." Padma said softly, giving her a long, warm hug and a little peck on the forehead. "As I said, you'll always be welcomed here."

"Always." Parvati confirmed, patting Rohini's shoulder.

"Are you ready, then?" Mr. Patil asked and Rohini nodded, rubbing her eyes with a paper towel. "Good."

"Here, allow me." Padma said, taking the necklace from Rohini's hands and putting it around her neck. "It suits you."

"Thanks." Rohini said with a smile.

They all stood up in front of the fire set, Thranduil hissing from his cage.

"Do you want us to accompany you?" Parvati asked as Rohini stepped into the chimney.

"It's fine, don't worry." Rohini assured her. "We will see each other in the Hogwarts Express, right?"

"Of course! And Luna and Ginny, too!"

"Goodbye, Mr. Patil." Rohini said and Mr. Patil gave her one last hug before handing her the Floo powder box." "Goodbye, Padma, Parvati. I really felt like home, here."

"Never hesitate to come back." Mr Patil said, his eyes slightly shiny. "There will always be a place for you with us."

"Thanks." Rohini said, her throat slightly tight. Then, she took a deep breath, made sure her Trunk and Thranduil were well placed next to her, and said: "The Burrow!"

The Patils' face vanished into a blurry storm of colour and it's coughing and stumbling that Rohini found herself stepping out of the Weasleys' chimney and right into Harry's arms.

"Hello, little sister." He said with a smile. "Missed me that much?"

"You bet I did." Rohini said before hugging him tightly. "Hello again, brother of mine."

And though it was quite a different atmosphere, with the Weasleys welcoming her with warm hugs and bright smiles, Rohini felt like she hadn't really left home by coming here for everybody was like a second family at The Burrow, too.


	7. Chapter 7

Rohini was an evil bloody goblin. Or at least, that's what Ron seemed to think as she persuaded the boys to show her their dress robes, the day before going back to Hogwarts. She had to admit that as Ron feared, he looked awful in the probably baroque-inspired robe.

Fred and George didn't look great either, but at least their personality made it easy to forget it as they jokingly mocked each other.

"Harry, please trade with me." Ron begged Harry, who had been forced to change into his, too. "Nobody will make fun of me if I wore yours."

"Don't sweat it; Draco bought exactly the same one." Rohini told them and Harry looked as if she had forced a toad into his throat. "Come on, Ron; I'm sure you'll survive. It's not like we'll have to wear it the whole year."

"You bet I'm not going to wear this rubbish thing the whole year!" Ron said, turning crimson as he took off his robe and threw it into Pig. "Come on, Harry. Let's go play Quidditch."

"Good idea." Harry said, happy to move to another topic. "Are you coming, too?" He asked Rohini who shook her head.

"Not today: I want to ask Bill's help to translate something for my Study of Ancient Runes essay before he leave for grocery shopping with your mum."

"You just missed him." Percy informed her as he walked past Ron's bedroom, his arm filled with paperwork. "I could give you a hand, though."

"Who would want to ask you help?" Ron said, exchanging a bored look with Harry.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind." Rohini said, following Percy into the stairs under the boys' bemused gaze.

Truth to be told, she had learn to appreciate Percy's hardworking personality; it seemed quite impressive in her opinion that he managed to find a job into the Ministry right after graduating and she found it quite sad that his brothers dismissed his perseverance and enthusiasm because of his personality.

She had also been the only one interested by his opinion on the legal thickness of cauldrons, siding with him on the fact thin cauldrons were quite dangerous and could lead to many accidents if melting.

Percy's bedroom was the most organised room of The Burrow; in fact, it almost looked more like an office with a bed than a proper bedroom.

"What are you working on?" Rohini asked, trying to take a look at the parchments on his desk but Percy hurried to hide them under a heavy manual about the history of wizard currencies.

"Secret project, I guess." Rohini said before sitting on the closest chair and pulling her Runes manual out of her bag. "Back to business, then!"

"What do you need help for?" Percy asked, looking above her shoulder.

"This part; I get the context of the text with the rest of the runes, but this part sounds like Chinese to me." Rohini sighed; she had been working on this text about vampires for two days now, but even her dictionary didn't help.

"Hmm, let me see…" Percy mumbled, adjusting his glasses. "It's about how a vampire's thirst for blood can feel similar to jealousy."

"How come?" Rohini asked, interested.

"Well, a vampire would long for what his victim has that he doesn't; fresh, warm blood." Percy explained.

"Oh." Rohini said. "I see… Thanks for your help! I know you're very busy lately, so it was nice of you to take a minute to help me."

"I'm always glad to help a serious student in need." Percy said, bumping his chest proudly, as if he was still wearing his Head Boy pin. Rohini smiled and took her leave, deciding to finish writing her essay in Ginny's bedroom where she, Ginny and Hermione were sleeping.

The room was empty, meaning her friends probably decided to go with the boys to play in the field on top of the hill. Rohini glanced outside; the sky was blue and cloudless, and the weather was comfortably warm.

Pushing Crookshanks off her pillow, Rohini just laid down for a few minutes, trying to enjoy this quiet, peaceful moment. She had forgotten how lively The Burrow could be and thought she loved this atmosphere, she didn't mind taking a little break from Fred and George's loud experiments and the fights between Percy and his brothers.

She was beginning to daze off when a little "hoot!" caught her attention. Blinking, she sit down and saw the largest owl she had ever seen landing at her feet, a letter in its beak.

"Well, hello there." Rohini said as she took the envelope. "I don't have any treats so you should probably go downstairs to get water and food." She said and the bird blinked before flying off by the window.

Rohini felt a sudden excitement as she recognised Sirius' handwriting spelling her name on the envelop and hurried to open it. It said:

 _Dear Rohini,_

 _I hope this letter will reach you soon. I can't tell you my location, but I'm not as close to you two as I wish I were. Sadly, it is no longer sunny where I'm staying right now, but I can't tell you more in case this owl gets controlled._

 _Harry told me about his nightmares, and I think it would be wise of him to speak about it with Dumbledore. As for the World Cup accident, this is a grim sign; if Death Eaters begin to rise again, then we need to act fast; we need to prevent another war._

 _Also, do not worry; you aren't like this traitor of Wormtail, Rohini. I know you would never betray your brother and friends, no matter the situation. I, too, wish we had killed him that night, though I would have never let you do this dirty job yourself._

 _Still, be careful: Voldemort's old allies are everywhere –and I mean everywhere, even in the safest places- and though it is true that Harry is his main target, you're not to be excluded; you're a smart, strong girl and getting rid of you is probably one of Voldemort's top priorities, too._

 _Be brave but be wise, too. Do not run into avoidable dangers. (I know I'm not a good example, so act just like I wouldn't act.)_

 _Take care,_

 _Padfoot._

Rohini re-read the letter with a frown; what did Sirius mean by "even in the safest places"? She didn't have more time to think about it however as she heard voices getting closer. Hiding the letter under her pillow, she grabbed the closest book and pretended to be reading as Mrs. Weasley came in.

"Hello Rohini, dear. I just saw an owl eating in Errol's bowl. Did you just receive a letter?"

"Ah, yeah, it was Luna." Rohini lied. "She was telling me how excited she was about meeting us again tomorrow."

"I see." Mrs. Weasley said. "She does sound like a sweet girl; Ginny is always talking about her. I'm glad she made a good friend after… after what happened during her First Year."

Mrs. Weasley was referring to that terrible experience were Ginny got brain controlled by the sixteen years old version of Voldemort that had been living in his old journal, given to the young girl by the malevolent Lucius Malfoy.

"Do you need help with the groceries?" Rohini asked, uncomfortable with the sudden heavy atmosphere.

"Oh, no, it's fine dearie. Bill and Charlie are already helping me." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "I tried to convince them both to get a haircut on our way back home, but they are so stubborn about keeping them long…"

Rohini felt sorry for the two young men; Mrs. Weasley's obsession with her sons' hair reminded her a bit of Aunt Petunia's obsession with the two Potters' wild locks. Though luckily for Bill and Charlie, Mrs. Weasley was a far more pleasant woman.

"I could help you cook lunch, then!" Rohini said, already standing up. "I promise it doesn't bother me anyway."

"Well, I suppose you can, yes." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "I hope Arthur will be able to join us today, he's been so busy since the World Cup accident…"

"Yeah, I've heard him and Percy talk about it." Rohini said. "That's terrible."

"Do not worry, Rohini. You and Harry will be safe once you're back to Hogwarts; Dumbledore will never let anything happen to you." Mrs. Weasley assured her but Rohini didn't answer, dubious of everybody's blind trust into the old man.

They were in the middle of setting the table when the Weasleys brothers, Ginny, Harry and Hermione came back, sweaty and merry looking.

"It smells good, mum." Fred said before giving his mum a kiss on the cheek. "What are you doing?"

"A bit of everything. Everybody, please wash your hands before eating!"

"How was it?" Rohini asked Harry when her brother stood up in front of the sink.

"Not as good as a real match." Harry said. "Can't wait for real practice to begin."

"Soon." Rohini said with a smile, before whispering. "I got a letter from Padfoot, by the way. He thinks you shouldn't treat your nightmares too lightly."

"Ok." Harry said with a nod. "Is he ok?"

"I think so! He moved to a new location, but he didn't tell me where."

"Harry, Rohini, come and eat while it's still warm!" Mrs. Weasley called from the other side of the room.

"Coming!" The twins said, taking place between Ginny and Ron. Ginny had gained a few more freckles since the end of her third years and her pale skin was almost disappearing under them all. With her beautiful brown eyes and ginger hair, Rohini was convinced she would be a real heartbreaker in a few years.

"Rohini told me she received a letter from your friend, Luna." Mrs. Weasley said as she handed a plate of toasts to her daughter.

"Really?" Ginny asked, interested.

"Errrrm, yeah. We talked about her dog, you know, Padfoot." Rohini said and Ginny seemed to understand the truth.

"Oh, I hope he's doing well! She told me he ran away in her last letter. Did they find him?"

"Yeah, he was lazing in a sunny alley." Rohini said, enjoying this game. "He came back home on his own, though. Not a single scratch, slightly fatter; an old lady probably fed him."

"Good." Ginny said with a nod.

"How are we going to King Cross tomorrow?" George asked his mum. "Was dad able to get cars from the Minister?"

"No, none of them were available." Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I guess we'll have to use the Muggle way, what is it called? Taxe?"

"Taxi." Hermione, Rohini and Harry said at the same time.

"Right, Taxis." Mrs. Weasley said. "I do hope it's not too expensive, though…"

"Harry and I can pay for ours." Rohini assured her. "Oh, but I need to go change some money at Gringotts then…"

"I will go for you don't worry, dear." Mrs. Weasley said. "Just, pack your trunks and enjoy your last afternoon here, you all."

"Yes ma'am." They answered with more or less enthusiasm before heading back to their rooms.

Harry followed the girls into Ginny's bedroom to take a look at Sirius' letter before going back to Ron's bedroom to pack.

"I wonder who's going to teach us DADA this year…" Hermione said as she grabbed her manual.

"Someone as competent as Professor Lupin, hopefully." Ginny said.

Dinner was quite merry that evening, Fred and George showing Rohini their new tricks when their mother wasn't looking. Hermione went into a short but heated debacle with Percy about House Elves and Rohini scared them all by chocking on a piece of garlic bread.

There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air when they awoke next morning. Heavy rain was still splattering against the window when Ginny pushed a grumpy Rohini out of bed and forced her to put on the first t shirt and pants that she could grab; they would change into their school robes on the Hogwarts Express anyway.

Still feeling groggy, Rohini almost missed a step and fell head first into the stairs but was luckily caught by Mr. Weasley as he rushed downstairs.

By the time they reached the kitchen, Mr. Weasley was standing in front of the chimney while Mrs. Weasley rummaged anxiously in the drawers while shouting "I've got a quill here somewhere!"

Curious, Rohini stood up next to Harry who was looking at the flames with a confused expression- and blinked stupidly.

"Mrs. Weasley? There's someone's head in your chimney fire." She said as the man turned to look at her with a nervous smile.

"Ah, you must be Harry's sister, Rohini! I'm Amos Diggory, pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine." Rohini said, marvelling once again about the wonders of the magical world. Amos Diggory was now talking really fast to Mr. Weasley, both men looking slightly anxious.

". . . Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems - please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there -"

"Here!" said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands. "And you two, it's time for breakfast!" She told the twins who didn't move; still trying to digest the fact a floating head in a chimney fire was a normal thing for wizards.

"- it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory's head. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off - if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur -"

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" asked Mr. Weasley, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes.

Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes. "Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."

"What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr. Weasley, scribbling frantically.

"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up -"

Mr. Weasley groaned.

"And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it - think of his record - we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department - what are exploding dustbins worth?"

"Harry, Rohini!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. "Breakfast, now!"

"Coming." Rohini said, pushing her brother tow ards the table where Bill and Charlie were fighting over the last brioche.

A minute later, Mr. Weasley shouted good-byes to everyone, dragging a comb through his hair.

"I'd better hurry - you have a good term, children, said Mr. Weasley to his children, Hermione and the twins, fastening a cloak over his shoulders and preparing to Disapparate. "Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King's Cross?"

"Of course I will," she said. "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."

"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now."

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. "Isn't he that nutter -"

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather. . ."

"Pfff!" Rohini snorted, accidentally spitting some apple juice on Ron who threw her a disgusted look.

"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.

"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" said Charlie.

"Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" said Fred. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything.. ."

"I see what you mean." Rohini agreed while handing a napkin to Ron.

"Who is Mad-Eye?" asked Harry.

"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror - one of the best... a Dark wizard catcher," he added, seeing Harry's blank look.

"Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though... the families of people he caught, mainly... and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."

Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King's Cross station, but Percy, apologizing most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.

"I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment," he told them. "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me."

"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" said George seriously. "I reckon he'll know your name soon."

"The taxis will be here soon." Mrs. Weasley said, taking a look by the window. "Go get your stuffs!"

Five minutes later, they stood in the rain-washed yard, watching the taxi drivers heaving seven heavy Hogwarts trunks into their cars.

"Oh dear, they don't look happy, do they?" Mrs. Weasley said.

Neither the twins nor Hermione told her that Muggle taxi drivers rarely transported overexcited owls, and Pigwidgeon was making an ear-splitting racket.

Nor did it help that a number of Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks went off unexpectedly when Fred's trunk sprang open, causing the driver carrying it to yell with fright and pain as Crookshanks clawed his way up the man's leg.

Thranduil hissed, too, but Rohini had been wise enough to put him in his cage beforehand.

The journey was predictably uncomfortable, owing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks. Crookshanks took quite a while to recover from the fireworks, and by the time they entered London, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Rohini were all severely scratched. They were very relieved to get out at King's Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder than ever, and they got soaked carrying their trunks across the busy road and into the station.

"Finally going back home." Rohini said between her teeth, rubbing her arms as she waited for her turn to cross the barrier to Platform 9 ¾.

They were all used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters by now. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention.

They did it in groups today; Rohini, Ron, and Hermione (the most conspicuous, since they were accompanied by Pigwidgeon, Crookshanks and Thranduil) went first; they leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it. . . and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them.

Instantly, Rohini forgot about the crappy weather and found herself smiling brightly.

The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts.

"As crowded as usual." Ginny pointed out as she appeared at Harry and Bill's sides.

"Let's find seats." Rohini suggested and they were soon stowing their luggage in two compartments halfway along the train.

They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.

"Why?" said Fred keenly.

"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it... it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.

"Why?" said George impatiently.

"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."

"Oh come on, tell us!" Rohini begged him but Bill only winked at them as the whistle blew and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors.

"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.

"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.

"You're the best." Rohini added with a smile.

"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but...well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with. . . one thing and another."

"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What d'you three know that we don't?"

"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting - mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules -"

"What rules?" they all asked together.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you. . . . Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?"

The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.

"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"

But Mrs. Weasley only smiled and waved. Before the train had rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie had Disapparated.

"Damn, I really want to know now…" Rohini grumbled.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to their compartment, Fred and George went looking for their friends Lee Jordan and both Rohini and Ginny decided to wait for Luna and Padma to join them.

The two girls were silently staring by the windows when Rohini heard a familiar, disagreeable voice by the open door.

"Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff.

But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do-"

Malfoy suddenly stopped in front of the open compartment, looking at Ginny and Rohini disdainfully.

"Well, speaking of rubbish…"

"Rubbish? Are you referring to your family's reputation, Malfoy?" Rohini said shortly, not in the mood for a fight. Before Malfoy had the time to answer, she stood up and closed the door to his face.

"I wish he had gone to Durmstrang instead, that little git." Ginny said.

"Durmstrang's another wizarding school, right?" said Rohini.

"Yeah, and it sucks," said Ginny, "Horrible reputation; puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts. I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms. Bill showed me a picture of one of his colleague from Durmstrang, once."

"I'd love to know Malfoy is dying of cold, far, far away from us…" Rohini said.

"Shame his mother likes him." Ginny laughed. "I'm gonna go and see if I can find Luna and Padma."

"Ok!" Rohini said, making herself more comfortable.

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor and Rohini decided to buy some candies at the same time as Harry.

"Oh, hello." Said a voice behind them and Rohini smiled as she saw Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw's Seeker and Harry's teenage crush.

"Hi." The twins said at the same time.

"You're smiling stupidly." Rohini told Harry once Cho had left.

"You're stupid." Harry said, handing his change to the old lady.

Rohini bought more treats than she should probably eat and went back to her compartment, wondering where Ginny, Luna and Padma were.

Five minutes later, her friends arrived, looking grim.

"What happened?" Rohini asked, worried. "Are you ok?"

"Parvati and I were having an argument with two Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin about Professor Lupin." Padma explained. "Then, they tried to make fun of Luna just as Ginny arrived…"

"… And I punched those jerks in the face." Ginny said, sounding rather proud of herself.

"I would have done the same." Rohini assured her before hugging Luna. "It's good to see you again! Loved the latest edition of The Quibblers."

"I will make sure to tell dad." Luna said with a smile.

Half an hour later, Hermione joined them for she was tired of the boys talking about Quidditch. It was Ginny's turn to leave, interested by the topic.

"What are you doing?" Rohini asked Hermione, her mouth filled with chocolate and strawberry muffin.

"Trying to learn a Summoning Charm." Hermione said without raising her head from her book.

"Oh, let me try too!" Rohini said, grabbing her wand; she had been waiting for what felt like ages to use magic again. "Did I tell you that mum and dad were excellent at Charms?"

"About a billion times." Padma said with a smile.

"I don't mind hearing about it again." Luna said, looking quite amused too.

As the Hogwarts Express slowed down, the girls hurried to put on their robes as the train finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.

As the doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead.

"Lovely weather." Rohini said and Hermione gave her a look as she bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak. After counting to three, they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.

"Hello there!" Said a friendly voice a few feet away.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Rohini yelled, seeing Hagrid's familiar silhouette at the far end of the platform.

"All righ', you all?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"

First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.

"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd.

A hundred seemingly horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, and Luna, Ginny, Padma and Rohini went into another before the door shut with a snap and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.

"Home sweet Home." Rohini said with a smile as she stared at the hundreds of lighten windows.

"Home sweet Home." Luna repeated, and the girls tried to sit as close as possible to warm up.


	8. Chapter 8

Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.

The twins and their friends jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!"

A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped - narrowly missing Luna, it burst at Harry's feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks.

People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. It was the doing of Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.

"Peeves, you little-" Rohini began but was interrupted.

"PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"

Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling.

"Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger -"

"That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.

"Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.

"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves -"

Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.

"Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"

"Here, I'll dry you up." Rohini said to Ron and Harry before using a spell she learnt during the summer. It was her first time trying it and so Ron's hair began to catch fire but luckily for him Hermione was here to save him.

"Thanks." Ron mumbled between his clenched teeth.

The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair.

The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. Rohini, Padma and Luna parted way with the rest to sit with the rest of the Ravenclaws.

"I hope they will hurry with the sorting, I'm exhausted." Rohini said as they watched McGonagall coming back with the old enchanted hat.

"The new DADA teacher isn't here, yet." Luna said and the girls looked up at the staff table.

There were, indead, more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too.

"Do ya think nobody took the job? Wouldn't be a surprise." Rohini said.

"Oh no, it's a really important class yet." Padma said with a frown.

Before Rohini could answer, the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall.

Rohini felt bad for the First years; they appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school - all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what looked like Hagrid's moleskin overcoat.

The coat was so big for him that it hooked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited.

"Do you think he fell in the lake?" Luna asked.

"Wouldn't even be surprised if he did."

Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else.

For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song about how the hat came to life and how Hogwarts had been founded.

At the end of it, the Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.

Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years."When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him as he sat next to Cho Chang. The next boy was sorted into Slytherin, then a girl joined the Hufflepuff table and so did the next boy.

"Creevey, Dennis!"

"Oh oh, another fan boy I'm sure." Rohini said as she watched tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

"Rest in peace, Harry." Rohini said, snorting at the look on her brother's face.

The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's.

And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended.

"Food! Food! Food!" A few students began to chant.

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."

"Yeay!" They all said loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

"Potatoes?" Luna asked Rohini who took the plate with a grateful smile and served herself a large portion of it.

"Hey, leave some for the rest of us, Potter!" Zach, a friendly Ravenclaw boy, told her.

"Sorry." Rohini apologised, blushing.

The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.

When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

"As if." Rohini said and Padma elbowed her.

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Half the student chore began to complain and Rohini couldn't help but feel sorry for her brother who looked horrified.

Still, Dumbhedore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.

A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling.

A few students screamed, terrified. The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Rohini had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel.

Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

"Mad-Eye." Padma whispered to Rohini.

The man reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore shook it. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

Mad-Eye sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.

Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and they saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar-"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. Rohini snorted and accidentally spilled the pumpkin juice she was drinking, making everybody groan.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament. . . well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."

"That sounds so cool." Rohini said, stars in her eyes already. Padma hushed her.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities -until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Duh." Rohini said. Three years ago, she would have been horrified to learn about it, but she had escaped so many deadly situation while studying at Hogwarts that nothing surprised her anymore.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament", Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger."

Rohini could swear she heard a few disappointed sighs.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the Gryffindor table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, people were either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors.

But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" - Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hog-warts champion."

His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces.

"I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.

"They can't do that!" said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table."The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

"Yeah," said Ron, a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousand Galleons…"

"I know I usually hate attention, but damn, this sounds so cool." Rohini said.

"There's no way I would ever let you get involved, even if you had been old enough." Padma scolded her. "You're too much of a danger magnet."

"Urg, thanks mum." Rohini said with a pout as she waved at her brother and friends.

"She isn't wrong, you know." Luna said with a smile.

"Thanks, second mum." Rohini said, though she was smiling too, now.

Nobody went to bed directly, deciding to stay up for a little bit in their Common Room that smelled like freshly baked cookies that night.

"Are you going to enter, Cho?" Zach asked the pretty seeker who seemed to consider it.

"Well, since Quidditch is cancelled this year, I might give it a try yes." She said and the girls cheered loudly for her.

It's Professor Flitwick who finally interrupted their little reunion by gently reminding them that they had classes the next day.

"Think about it, though…" Rohini said to Padma as she slipped under the warm blanket. "I don't even know what I'd do with so much money… probably save it to run away from Private Drive…"

"Don't even think about it." Padma said and Rohini huffed. "Goodnight, silly."

"'night, mum." Rohini answered, already half asleep.

The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead as they examined their new course schedules at breakfast.

"Why do we begin with Potions…" Rohini complained. "I'm gonna be sick if I see Snivellus' ugly face right after breakfast."

"You're such a huge baby." Padma said, rolling her eyes. "At least it's just for one hour…"

"We have divination and a Tranfiguration double class with the Hufflepuff,then." Rohini said between two spoons of cereals. "Oh, but Charms is going to be with the Slytherins this afternoon, urg…"

"One more occasion to accidentally turn Malfoy into a ferret." Padma joked.

There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail. The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed.

On the other side of the Hall Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home.

"Jerk." Rohini mumbled between her teeth.

"Let's go then." Padma sighed. "Snape will probably take points from Ravenclaw if you don't show up five minutes earlier."

"See you for lunch." Luna said before waving at Ginny to come closer.

To nobody's surprise, Snape was in a sour mood and almost broke Lisa's neck after she made her potion explode.

Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave her detention and took 10 points from Ravenclaw.

"And five points from Ravenclaw, Potter!" He said at the end of the lesson.

"Excuse me?" Rohini said, offended. "I did nothing wrong!"

"Except for talking to your little friend while I was explaining the different steps. Still unable to learn respect, then!"

"Let it go." Padma whispered as she dragged Rohini by the arm. "He's just mad because Moody got the job and not him.

It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for the fourth year running. Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers and Moody was probably not going to be an exception.

Divination went more tranquilly, mainly because Rohini accidentally fell asleep after listening to Professor Trelawney's hypnotising voice.

"She predicted that you will be in mortal danger once more, by the way." Padma told her as they left the tower. "She seemed terrified about it."

To Rohini's pleasure, Transfiguration was as interesting and difficult as ever, and she was the only one managing to perform the summoning charm perfectly. At the end of the class, she went to see Professor McGonagall to ask about her Animagus training.

"Ah, Miss Potter. Well, I'm afraid that with the Tournament I-"

"You're not going to train me anymore?" Rohini cut her, looking worried. "But-"

"As I was saying," Professor McGonagall said between her pinched lips, "I will not be able to train you as much as the previous year, but I will make sure to see you at least once a week."

"Oh." Rohini said, embarrassed. "Thank you very much, professor."

At lunch, they meet up again with Luna who was beaming, apparently enjoying Hagrid's slightly dangerous classes.

"Dad will be delighted by all the information I gathered; I think it will interest him for the next edition." She explained to her friends.

Rohini was meeting up Harry, Ron and Hermione before their afternoon class when they heard someone call Ron.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

They looked above their shoulders; Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.

"What?" said Ron shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear.

"Listen to this!

 _FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

 _It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office._ "

Malfoy looked up. "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.

Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:

" _Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder._

 _Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene_."

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry - both he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy - "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away.

BANG!

Several people screamed - Harry felt something white-hot graze the side of his face - he plunged his hand into his robes for his wand, but before he'd even touched it, he heard a second loud BANG, and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Harry spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing.

There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry - at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, "missed."

"Are you sure?" Rohini asked, grabbing Harry by the chin to take a closer look at his face.

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.

"Leave - what?" Harry said, bewildered.

"Not you - him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head.

Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly.

"Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice.

Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What - what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody.

"Teach - Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep," said Moody.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall wealdy. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock -"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy... . You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son. . . you tell him that from me. . . . Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape. Come on, you. . ."

And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.

"That was pretty awesome." Rohini said.

"I would usually disagree with you, but yeah, that was oddly satisfying." Padma said.

Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.

"Come on." Padma said. "We still have classes to attend."

The rest of the day seemed quite peaceful after that, Malfoy too ashamed to say anything sneaky during Charms. It might have been due to the little scarred ferret doodle Rohini had thrown to his face when Flitwick wasn't looking, too, but nothing was sure about it.


	9. Chapter 9

Rohini hated mornings, especially those who didn't go as planned. And being caught by Hermione right before breakfast to get an eight minute rent about the conditions of House Elves at Hogwarts wasn't really what she needed today.

"Hermione," Rohini finally cut her, "that's honestly really interesting and I'd love to listen to what you have to say later, but right now I'm begging you, please let me go eat something."

"Oh, sure." Hermione said, looking slightly offended. "Don't forget to wear your badge!"

Rohini looked at the three coloured badges Hermione had given her, all bearing the same letters: S. P. E .W., which stood for _the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare_.

"What took you so long?" Padma asked her as she took place between her friends.

"Hermione." Rohini sighed. "Here, she gave me one for each of you."

"Spew?" Luna asked, looking with a confused expression at her greenish badge.

"Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Couldn't she have found a better acronym?" Padma asked.

"Don't ask me." Rohini sighed. "She put Ron as the treasurer and Harry as secretary. She said my handwriting didn't suit the role."

"How many members does she have?" Luna asked.

"Well, counting the boys and herself… six if you join us."

"I'm interested." Luna said with a smile. "It's a very serious matter. Maybe I could ask dad to write something about it?"

"Hermione would love you for that." Rohini said.

"Are you feeling better today?" Padma asked Rohini who bit her lips and looked down at her plate.

"I- Yeah, I'm just tired." Rohini answered.

Padma was referring to what had happened during their first class with Moody, the previous day.

By using a spider as its innocent victim, he had insisted to show them the three illegal dark curses that was heavily punished if used.

It consisted of the Imperius Curse which allowed you to take complete control over someone, the Cruciatus curse that tortured its victim with an unthinkable pain and, of course, the last one… Avada Kedavra. The killing curse. Rohini had jumped away as the spider fell dead on front of her, killed in an instant in a flash of green light.

Feeling nauseous, she had run away and hide in the girls' bathroom for the rest of the hour, the memory of her mother's death playing again and again in her mind.

"He shouldn't have shown us those, honestly." Padma said, glancing at Moody who was talking to Professor McGonagall. "Those are illegals for a reason. What if someone actually try them now?"

"Like Malfoy?" Rohini said, glancing at the Slytherin table. "I'd like to see him tr- hey!" She yelled as Padma pinched her arm.

"Don't even think about it or _I_ 'll be the one kicking your butt."

"Language." Rohini said, grinning. Padma gave her an unimpressed look as Luna chuckled. "Ok, what classes do we begin with today?"

"Well…" Padma began, looking worryingly at her. "DADA and Potions."

"Of course we do." Rohini groaned, resting her head against Luna's arm. "Please, take my place Luna. Be a good friend. I will do all your homework if you do."

"I'm not sure we look alike enough for that." Luna said, patting Rohini's hair. "Be strong, I believe in you."

"Well, glad at least one of us does." Rohini sighed before following Padma with a serious lack of enthusiasm.

"Courage!" She heard Luna shouted.

If Rohini thought she couldn't dislike Professor Moody's classes more, she was wrong; as soon as everybody had arrived, he announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.

"Are you kidding me?" Rohini said, bringing everybody's attention on her. "It's illegal for a reason, professor."

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like, Potter." said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Rohini and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

Everybody glanced at each other, obviously uncomfortable about this situation. Rohini didn't move, looking into Moody's eyes with silent anger. Finally, Lisa, Zachariah and Yoanne stood up, apologised, and left the classroom.

"Anybody else? Good. Patil, you're first."

Padma gulped, looking like a doe in front of a car. Rohini squeezed her hand and whispered that it will be alright.

"We don't have the whole year, Patil!" Moody barked and Padma stood up and walked towards the front of the class. Rohini resisted the urge to close her eyes, trying to show her support to her best friend.

"Imperio!" Moody shouted and Padma froze, doing nothing at first, not even blinking. Then, she turned to look at Rohini with the most hateful expression on her face before taking of her shoes and throwing it at her best friend's face and forcing Rohini to protect herself with her manual.

A second later, Padma was back to her usual self and looked horrified by what had just happened.

"Next!" Moody shouted, pointing at a chubby ginger boy who turned green as he stood up.

"I'm so sorry." Padma apologised to Rohini as she sat back next to her. "So, so sorry! Did I hurt you? Are you alright? I can't believe he made me do that!"

"It's not your fault, Padma. I'm fine, don't worry." Rohini lied. Padma still looked pale and took Rohini's hand, refusing to let her go until Moody called her name.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Trying not to show how anxious she felt about having her self-control taken away from her, Rohini did as he said and stood up in front of him.

"Imperio!" Moody said and Rohini felt as if time had stopped and she was now floating in some kind of slimy texture.

Rohini had the feeling she should find it relaxing and comfortable, but deep inside her chest she felt the nagging feeling of anxiousness.

She heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of her empty brain: _Sing for us… Sing…_

Rohini opened her mouth, trying to recall a song she had learn.

 _Sing…_

But nothing came to her mind.

'You don't even like singing, dumbass.' She heard her own voice scold her.

Sing!

'Singing? With this voice of yours?' She heard Aunt Petunia said before sneering.

Sing! NOW!

And so, Rohini acted; but instead of singing, she just screamed on top of her lungs, too ashamed of her own voice to sing but unable to resist the urge to produce a sound. She only stopped screaming as Moody waved his wand.

"See, Potter? Not so bad." He told her and Rohini just threw him the nastiest look she could before sitting back next to Padma.

"Bugger off." Rohini said between her teeth. "I hope he will choke on his pumpkin juice."

"Or that he will get fired." Padma said, looking just as grim.

The next hour didn't help with their sour mood as Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes as he hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked.

"Maybe we could put some poison in his plate." Ron suggested one day as they studied together in the library.

With all the extra works they had to do and Rohini's special training with Professor McGonagall, they barely noticed that October was already here until they arrived in the entrance hall on morning to found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase.

Ron, the tallest of the them, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the others:

 _TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY AND STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST._

"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him. . . ."

"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off.

"Diggory," said Harry. "He must be entering the tournament."

"He's Amos' son, right?" Rohini asked. "I've heard Cho Chang saying he was really smart."

"Oh, did she?" Harry said, looking as if he had been forced to drink a cup of Polyjuice.

"He's also a prefect, and I've heard Professor Flitwick praise his skills many times." Hermione said.

"You only like him because he's handsome," said Ron scathingly.

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.

Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!", making Rohini and Harry laugh as Hermione looked offended.

The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle.

During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where they went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumours were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.

Harry pointed out to Rohini that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces.

The suits of armour were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.

"I'm sorry Miss Potter, but I will not be able to meet up with you for obvious reasons." Professor McGonagall announced to Rohini after breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October.

Overnight, the Great Hall had been decorated with enormous silk banners that hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin.

Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

"They really want to impress the two other schools, don't they?" Rohini said.

"The rivalry between them is quite strong after all." Padma said.

"I wonder who will be our champion…" Luna said. "I've heard people wanted Cho Chang to be chosen."

"Well, she's strong, pretty and smart." Rohini said, glancing at the Ravenclaw seeker. "No wonder they want her to represent Hogwarts."

"Rohini!"

Turning her head, Rohini saw Harry running towards her before he pulled her into an empty corridor.

"Look." He said, looking worried. He was handing her a letter and Rohini recognised Sirius' handwriting. It read:

 _Nice try, Harry._

 _I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself._

 _Don't forget what I said about your scar._

 _PS: I hope Rohini's training is going well. I'm sure Lily and James would be proud. I sure am._

 _Padfoot_

"He's back!" Rohini said, beaming.

"Yes, that's the problem." Harry said. "What if someone spot him?"

"Harry, don't fret; I'm sure he's well hidden. I mean, now that Dumbledore and Professor Lupin are on his side, they might have provided him a place to stay at?"

"I hope you're right…" Harry said, still looking anxious.

"Don't worry, silly brother." Rohini said, messing up Harry's hair. "Are you letting them growing? It's almost as long as Charlie and Bill now."

"I'm sure Aunt Petunia will love it." Harry said with a smirk.

"She'll be absolutely delighted." Rohini laughed. "See you later!"

"Bye."

There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

When the bell rang early, Rohini and Padma hurried up to Ravenclaw Tower were Luna was already waiting, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait as Padma hide her laugh as a cough as she walked past her sister.

"First years in front! No pushing!"

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest.

"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"How do you expect them to find such a long train ride?" Dean Thomas asked.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.

"Urg, would be a nightmare of a ride." Rohini said. "How about Hippogriffs?"

"Don't be silly." Hermione scolded her.

"I was joking, Hermione." Rohini said. "I know it's not doable."

"A Portkey maybe?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said Hermione impatiently.

They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. Finally, Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers.

"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid. . . it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.

"Wow!" Rohini gasped.

Skimmering over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

"They are so beautiful oh my god." Rohini said, stars in her eyes.

"Horses are so majestic, yeah." Ginny said, standing between Rohini and Luna

The carriage door suddenly opened and everybody tried to have a better look, Rohini barely able to see anything for she was one of the smallest students.

A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully.

A shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed, almost immediately, by the tallest woman Rohini had ever seen. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.

"Look at Hagrid's face." Rohini told Harry: Hagrid was staring at the woman like she was the most beautiful person he had ever met.

"Someone has a crush." Padma said with a laugh.

As the woman stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose.

Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dort," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

A dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. From what Rohini could see of them, they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, waving towards Hagrid whose cheeks were taking a funny shade of pink.

"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job."Zey are very strong…"

"Nothin' I can't handle, I'm sure." Hagrid said with a little chuckle. Madame Maxime smiled.

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, seeming amused by the situation.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey. Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron.

"That's the worst French accent I've ever heard." Rohini said and Seamus childishly pulled his tongue out at her.

They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.

For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then - "Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly.

They all listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor.

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool-

"It's a mast!" Harry said.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes.

"Neat…" Rohini breathed.

Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.

Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle, they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.

"Harry - it's Krum!" Ron said and a few students were now talking excitingly.

"Who?" Rohini asked, standing up on her tip toes.

"Krum! The most wonderful seeker in the world! Oh come on Rohini, even you should know that! I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum!"

"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player." said Hermione.

"Only a Quidditch player?" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Hermione - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"

"Ron is in love, guys." Rohini said with a teasing smile.

"I'm getting his autograph if I can," said Ron, ignoring her. "You haven't got a quill, have you, Harry?"

"Nope, they're upstairs in my bag," said Harry.

Rohini was glad to finally be back inside, where the Great Hall was warm and welcoming.

Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around the doorway, apparently unsure about where they should sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

Rohini turned her head to talk to Padma- and froze.

As the Durmstrang students finally headed towards the Slytherin table, her attention was caught by one of them in particular.

Taller than most, a fierce look on her face, was the prettiest girl Rohini had ever seen. Her skin was black except for the three scars on her right cheek; her eyes were an eerie shade of blue and her long, grey dreadlocks were tied up in a bun.

As she passed next to the Ravenclaw table, the girl must have felt Rohini's eyes on her for she turned her head to give her a quick look and gave Rohini a little wink and an amused smile.

"Oh my gosh." Rohini said weakly, her cheeks feeling as warm as cookies freshly out of the oven. "Oh my gosh."

"What's wrong?" Padma asked, looking worried.

"Nothing. Everything is perfect." Rohini said.

"Ron isn't the only one in love, then." Luna said loudly enough for Rohini to hear.

The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.

"The Beauxbatons students are so elegant." Padma said, looking at two boys sitting on her left. "I wonder if they are taught it or if it's natural."

"You're just as elegant at them." Rohini assured her and Padma seemed pleased by the compliment.

Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion. They were surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's.

"But there are only two extra people," Rohini said. "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?"

"Maybe there's some special guests?" Luna suggested.

"Maybe."

When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime.

When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side.

"They are so polite!" Rohini said.

Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down, and Rohini saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.

The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

"What's that?" said Zach, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"No idea, but it looks disgusting." Rohini said with a grimace.

"Bouillabaisse," said one of the Beauxbatons students.

"Oh, thanks." Rohini said, embarrassed.

The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep bloodred.

"Oh , look!" Padma said, pointing at the staff table.

The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. A plumy man was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime.

"So, there will be five judges then?" Rohini asked and Padma shrugged.

When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Rohini ate way too much, but it was a necessary pain for she refused to let a few unknown plate unknown to her palate.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. They all felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket -"

"The what?" Rohini muttered but was shushed by her schoolmates.

"- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. His toothbrush mustache and severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard.

"I already hate him." Rohini said.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old.

A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways.. their magical prowess - their daring -their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

"Neat." Rohini said as the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing. A few heads turned her way, but most students were looking at Dumbledore.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore.

"Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."

"I bet ya Fred and George will try to cross it anyway." Rohini said, glancing at the twins who were looking quite defiant.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing - it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough. . ."

"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

"No he will not." Rohini said before Harry could talk.

"Hey!" Harry said.

"What? We've already faced a three headed dog, murderous plants, a giant wizard chess game, Voldemort and Professor Quirrell, A Basilisk, Young Voldemort Soul-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Harry said. "You're such a bummer, Rohi."

"Safety first." Rohini said.

"It sounds so ironic coming from you." Padma pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? I'm always careful." Rohini said in a false outragement, making her friends laugh.

"Where is he?" said Ron, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"

But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students.

"Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Harry saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on. "Professor, Ivood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.

"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy -"

Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as the twins and their friends. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him. And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes, then to Rohini who was right behind her brother.

Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar. The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead.

Annoyed, Rohini gave him a cold stare until he looked away; her brother wasn't some kind of zoo attraction, for Merlin's sake!

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter and his sister." said a growling voice from behind them.

Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster.

The color drained from Karkaroff's face. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.

"You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.

"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potters, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.

Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him. Moody watched him until he was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face.

Rohini went on her tip toes again, trying to catch a glimpse at the pretty student from earlier.

"Let's go to bed, I'm exhausted." Padma said between two yawns.

"Yeah, let's go." Rohini said, wondering why Mad-Eye and Karkaroff seemed to despise each other so much. She shared her thoughts with Padma who shrugged.

"Durmstrang is known for their interest in Dark Arts, and Moody is a former Aurore… maybe they got into a conflict of interest or something once?"

"Yeah, sounds logical." Rohini said with a nod.

"I wonder who will be the three champions Luna said before parting way. "Goodnight Rohini, goodnight Padma!"

"'night night." Rohini said, rubbing her eyes. The excitement of the evening was slowly fading and letting place to a well-earned exhaustion.

As she slipped under her warm blanket, Thranduil lying on her back, Rohini couldn't help but think about that girl from earlier.

"What a beautiful evening…" She mumbled, already half asleep.

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 **Long chapter, yeay**

 **Things are awful rn but at least i still have this fic ahah.** **  
** **I know I've already asked this question before, but i wanted to have your opinion again: which Potter twin do you want to see being "chosen" as the second Hogwarts champion?**


	10. Chapter 10

As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late but as Rohini finally joined Padma and Luna for breakfast, she realised she might be the last student to arrive. The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner.

"Did I miss something?" She asked as Padma handed her the plate of scrambled eggs.

"All the Durmstrang lot put their name in the goblet," Luna said. "But we haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

"I have the feeling three trouble makers aren't going to wait any longer…" Rohini said, glancing at Fred, George, and Lee Jordan walking towards The Goblet of Fire, all three of them looking extremely excited.

"This isn't going to work." Padma said, shaking her head.

"Nope." Rohini said with a smile.

Everybody was looking at the silly trio, wondering if whatever plan they came up with will work.

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"

Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley - Hogwarts. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

For a split second, nothing happened; George let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred - but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter.

They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

"Oh no, they look awful!" Padma said, eyes tearing up from laughing too hard.

"They had it coming, ahah!" Rohini said, leaning against Luna's shoulders to avoid falling.

The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter.

"More seriously, I wonder who will be our champion if only underage students have tried…" Padma said, glancing back at the goblet. "I wonder if Cho Chang have put her name in yet."

"Oh, here she goes!" Rohini said excitingly as Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory stepped into the golden circle together. Both the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs clapped loudly, followed by the Slytherin as a huge bloke named Warrington put his own name in the Goblet.

"I'm not that hype about having a Slytherin champion." Rohini admitted. "I mean, I know there are some decent fellows in their house, but Warrington isn't one of them; he played dirty during his match against Harry."

"Oh, look!" Luna said, pointing at Angelina Johnson, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way, as she walked towards the enchanted goblet.

"She's really cool, isn't she?" Padma said as she looked at Angelina grinning at the Gryffindors. "She's both pretty and very strong, since she's in the Quidditch team."

"I wouldn't mind her being our champion, yeah." Rohini agreed. "Didn't know she was seventeen! What are your plans for today?" She then asked her friend.

"I'm going to write my first article for the next edition of The Quibbler." Luna announced, beaming.

"Wow, really? That's awesome!" Rohini said, impressed. "I'm sure you'll do well! What is it going to be about?"

" _S.P.E.W_., I had a talk with Hermione and she gave me all the information I needed for it." Luna said. "Dad is quite interested by the subject; he even asked me to buy a pin for himself."

"You and your dad are so sweet I'll get cavities." Rohini sighed before looking at Padma. "How about you?"

"I was thinking we might have spent the day together?" Padma said, looking unsure. "But I think you said you and Harry planned to go visit Hagrid with Ron and Hermione…"

"You can come with us!" Rohini said. "You're my best friend, of course I want to spend the day with you, too!"

"What a poignant confession." A cold voice said behind the girls and Rohini hold back a grimace as they looked up at Snape.

"Some people are able to show other emotions than hate, professor. Surprising, isn't it?" Rohini said shortly and she didn't miss the little smile Padma hide behind her hand.

"Five points from Ravenclaw for your distasteful s use of sarcasm, Potter." Snape said. "I have the displeasure to announce you Professor McGonagall have… kindly asked me to tutor you today-"

"What?" Rohini said, suddenly not amused at all.

"-She apparently seems to think you need to broaden your potions knowledge before going further into your Animagus training." Snape sneered. "Meet me in front of the donjon at 5." And then he left, his black cape floating behind him like an ugly bat's wings.

"Please poison me right now." Rohini said as Padma gently patted her back. "I feel betrayed by Professor McGonagall, how could she think it was a good idea?! Snape hates me!"

"Well, Snape is the most despicable man on this planet, but you have to admit Potions are important." Padma said.

"Yeah, but is there really nobody else available?" Rohini groaned. "Private lesson with Snivellus Snape, oh joy."

"I'm sure you will survive it." Padma said, and there was a little twinkle in her eyes that showed she was quite amused by the situation.

"Oh look, the Beauxbatons students are here." Luna said, pointing at the entrance doors.

Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organized them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks.

When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again.

"I wonder where they are sleeping." Rohini thought aloud. "I mean, the Durmstrang students probably sleep aboard their ghostly ship, but sleeping in a huge carriage sounds quite… weird, even for the wizardly world."

But before Padma or Luna could answer, Harry and his best friends joined them and asked if Rohini was ready to go.

"Padma can come with us, right?" She asked and Padma smiled anxiously.

"Yeah, sure." Harry said.

"Thank you." Padma said, looking half surprised to be allowed to follow so easily.

"Told ya." Rohini said, smiling softly.

As they neared Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the mystery of the Beauxbatons' sleeping quarters was solved. The gigantic powder-blue carriage in which they had arrived had been parked two hundred yards from Hagrid's front door, and the students were climbing back inside it.

"So they really sleep inside!" Rohini said, bemused. "Gosh, I'd love to follow them and see how it is…"

"Maybe you should make some Polyjuice potion to find out." Padma said, grinning; she was obviously referencing to that one time, back in second year, when the twins and their friends had brewed the difficult potion to spy on Malfoy.

"No thanks, it tasted worse than rotting eggs." Ron said with a grimace.

Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and Fang's booming barks answered instantly.

"Bout time!" said Hagrid, when he'd flung open the door. "Thought you lot'd forgotten where I live!"

"We've been really busy, Hag -" Hermione started to say, but then she stopped dead, looking up at Hagrid, apparently lost for words.

"Woah." Rohini said, blinking.

Hagrid was wearing his best (and very horrible) hairy brown suit, plus a checked yellow-and-orange tie. This wasn't the worst of it, though; he had evidently tried to tame his hair, using large quantities of what appeared to be axle grease.

It was now slicked down into two bunches - perhaps he had tried a ponytail like Bill's, but found he had too much hair. The look didn't really suit Hagrid at all. Rohini and Padma exchanged a look, then cough to hide their smile.

Hermione goggled at him, then, obviously deciding not to comment, she said, "Erm - where are the skrewts?"

"Out by the pumpkin patch," said Hagrid happily. "They're get-tin' massive, mus' be nearly three foot long now. On'y trouble is, they've started killin' each other."

"Oh no, really?" said Hermione, shooting a repressive look at Ron, who, staring at Hagrid's odd hairstyle, had just opened his mouth to say something about it.

"Yeah," said Hagrid sadly. "S' okay, though, I've got 'em in separate boxes now. Still got abou' twenty."

"Well, that's lucky," said Ron and Rohini elbowed him. Hagrid, thanks Merlin, missed the sarcasm.

Hagrid's cabin comprised a single room, in one corner of which was a gigantic bed covered in a patchwork quilt. A similarly enormous wooden table and chairs stood in front of the fire beneath the quantity of cured hams and dead birds hanging from the ceiling.

"Oh, hello Padma!" Hagrid said when he spotted the fifth member of their tiny group.

"Hello, Mister Hagrid." Padma said, looking slightly intimidated.

"Just Hagrid is fin'" Hagrid said with a smile.

They sat down at the table while he started to make tea, and were soon immersed in yet more discussion of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as excited about it as they were.

"You wait," he said, grinning. "You jus' wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never seen before. Firs' task. . . ah, but I'm not supposed ter say."

"Go on, Hagrid!" They urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.

"I don' want ter spoil it fer yeh," said Hagrid. "But it's gonna be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out. Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!"

"Me neither; mum had always said it was way too dangerous to begin with." Padma said.

"Yer' motha' is an Auror, heh?" Hagrid said while pouring them a cup of tea each. "Hope she's all good, with all that's happenin' lately…"

"I'm sure she will manage, she's stronger than what most people think." Padma said, obviously proud of Mrs. Patil's hardworking and perseverant personality.

They ended up having lunch with Hagrid, though they didn't eat much - Hagrid had made what he said was a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a large talon in hers, the five friends rather lost their appetites.

However, they enjoyed themselves trying to make Hagrid tell them what the tasks in the tournament were going to be, speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, and wondering whether Fred and George were beardless yet.

A light rain had started to fall by midafternoon; it was very cozy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle patter of the drops on the window, watching Hagrid darning his socks and arguing with Hermione about house-elves - for he flatly refused to join S.P.E.W. when she showed him her badges.

"It'd be doin' 'em an unkindness, Hermione," he said gravely, threading a massive bone needle with thick yellow yarn. "It's in their nature ter look after humans, that's what they like, see? Yeh'd be makin' 'em unhappy ter take away their work, an' insutin' 'em if yeh tried ter pay 'em."

"But Harry set Dobby free, and he was over the moon about it!" said Hermione. "And we heard he's asking for wages now!"

"Is he?" Rohini asked, surprised; she hadn't heard about Dobby in a long time.

"Yeah, well, yeh get weirdos in every breed. I'm not sayin' there isn't the odd elf who'd take freedom, but yeh'll never persuade most of 'em ter do it - no, nothin' doin', Hermione."

Hermione looked very cross indeed and stuffed her box of badges back into her cloak pocket.

"Oh no, I forgot I'm supposed to meet up with Snape!" Rohini suddenly realised at five in the afternoon rang.

"Huh, what?" Harry said.

"Padma will explain. Sorry Hagrid, gotta go!" Rohini said, running back to the castle, holding her bag above her head to avoid being soaked wet by the now pouring rain.

Of course, Snape was already waiting for her in front of the door and didn't miss the opportunity to take off some points from Ravenclaw for "making him loses his precious time."

"Today, you will learn to make a Skele-Gro potion." Snape announced as he began to write the different steps on his chalkboard. "It shouldn't be too hard for someone as smart as you, Potter."

Somehow, Rohini could tell it wasn't mean as a compliment.

By half past five it was growing so dark inside the donjon that Rohini could barely see what she was doing but Snape didn't bother to light up a candle or two. Sweaty, her glasses all steamy and her hair messier than ever, Rohini finally finished her potion.

Snape took a look above her shoulders, invading Rohini's personal space so much she could feel his disgusting breath against her nape.

"I wouldn't risk giving it to Madam Pomfrey." the Potions Master said. "You obviously didn't respect the dosage of Chinese Chomping Cabbage."

"Duh." Rohini said; she had chopped the vegetable right under Snape's eyes and he hadn't stopped her yet.

"You might take your leave, now." Snape said. "I will inform my colleague that you should be able to grow back a bone the size of your little toe."

"Thanks, professor." Rohini said, obviously not thinking a single word of it.

She was on her way to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast when something caught her attention; it was Peeves, laughing and mocking someone. Rubbing her glasses on her sweater to get rid of the steam, Rohini realised he was actually bothering the pretty girl from Durmstrang.

"Peeves!" Rohini shouted, running towards them and pointing a menacing finger at the poltergeist. "If you don't stop what you're doing right now, I will tell the Bloody Baron you're bothering the Slytherins' table guest!"

The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, and the only person (?) that was able to scare Peeves away. The Poltergeist blew up raspberries at Rohini before flying away.

Left alone, Rohini gave an apologetic smile to the stranger; now that they were in front of each other, she realised the other girl was way taller than her, maybe even taller than Ron. The Durmstrang student was now smiling at Rohini.

"Thanks, little saviour." She said. Her voice was deep and nice to listen to.

"You're welcome, my lady." Rohini said with a nervous laugh. "I, erm, am sorry about Peeves. Don't hesitate to jinx him if he bothers you again."

"I will make sure to remember that." The girl said before offering her hand to Rohini. "I'm Dana, by the way."

"Rohini." Rohini said, shaking hands with her. "But I supposed you already know that, with what happened yesterday."

"The twins who lived, heh?" Dana said. "Yeah, I might have heard about you and your brother before."

"More about my brother than I." Rohini said. "I've heard scars were quite popular."

"Scars are overrated, don't you think?" Dana said with a wink and Rohini's eyes fell on the three scars on her cheek. "May I ask my little saviour to show me the way back to the Great Hall?"

"Oh, of course!" Rohini said eagerly. "I don't want to be rude or anything, but how did you end up here?"

"I was looking for our headmaster, and got lost." Dana explained. "How about you? I saw you head towards the Forrest with your friends earlier. Did the big bad wolf eat them?"

"Pfff!" Rohini chuckled. "Hopefully not; I do like my worldwide famous big brother. I just had a special Potion training with Snivel- Professor Sn ape."

"A special training?" Dana asked, looking interested.

"Yep! I'm actually planning to become an Animagus." Rohini explained. "I've been training for almost a year now."

"I'm impressed." Dana said, and she sound sincere. "Any animals you'd like to turn into?"

"Hmm…" Rohini said, thinking about it. "Ideally? An Hippogriff. Realistically? A deer, maybe. It was my dad's fo- favourite animal, I've heard." Rohini said, remembering her father and his friends were illegal Animagi.

"I'd love to be a dragon." Dana said.

"A dragon? Neat." Rohini said with a smile. "I'm sure you'd look impressive as one."

"Grrr." Dana growled, making a claw motion with her hands and the two girls began to laugh.

By the time they reached the Great Hall, Rohini had learned two things: Dana was a fervent Dragon Right Activist and the little gap between her front teeth was very charming.

"Well, here we are." Rohini said as they stood up in front of the opened doors.

"Thanks, little saviour." Dana said. "It was a pleasure to properly meet you, Rohini."

"Pl- pleasure was mine." Rohini said, feeling her cheeks getting warmer as Dana used her name. She should definitely thanks Peeves for being such a bother at the right moment, for once. "I think you should be safe from now on."

Dana smiled and took Rohini's hand before giving it a little kiss.

"A proper thank for the knight in shiny armour." She said with a wink before heading towards the Slytherin table where her friends were already sitting.

Internally screaming, Rohini resisted the urge to hide her face into her hands and bit her lips to hold back the huge grin that was trying to flourish on her face. She bumped into two different students on her way to the Ravenclaw table and hit her knees against the table as she sat between Padma and Luna.

"Oh my god." She whispered. "Oh my god."

"Looks like you had a really unexpected meeting." Padma said, leaning closer. "Tell us everything."

"I…" Rohini began, trying to calm down, "I just met the coolest girl ever."

"See? She has forgotten about us already." Padma said to Luna with a little pout.

"I said the coolest girl, not the prettiest." Rohini said with a wink and Padma chuckled.

"Oh, hush you! How did you meet?" Padma asked, genuinely curious.

"I was leaving the donjon when I heard Peeves bullying her, so I decided to give her a little help."

"That was quite noble of you." Luna said with a knowing smile.

"I'm sure you'd have done the same." Rohini said before clearing her throat. "Anyway, I helped her get rid of him and then she asked if I could show her the way back to the Great Hall. We talked about dragons."

"Dragons?" Padma said, raising an eyebrow. "You met a girl for the first time, and you talked about dragons? That's… very typical of you."

"Thanks, Padma." Rohini said before pulling her tongue out childishly. "She's the one bringing up the topic, actually. She was really passionate about it."

"I'm sure she was." Padma said, looked at Luna, and the two of them began to giggle.

"Oh, shush!' Rohini said, turning crimson.

"I'm sorry but, you have to admit, it's so… cliché! You save the beautiful mysterious stranger from the Bad Poltergeist, you talk about _dragons_ and then she gives you this very noble-like kiss on the hand? That kind of situation could only happen to you, Rohi." Padma said and Rohini joined her friends in their laugh.

Finally looking around properly, Rohini realised the Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George - clean-shaven again - seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well.

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual due to everybody's thrilling excitement about finally learning the three champions' names.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes.

The tension was thick, everybody holding back their breath. Rohini saw Cho Chang's best friends taking her hands, probably hopping her name will be sorted out.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

A storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall.

"That doesn't even feel like a surprise, somehow." Padma pointed out as Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

"He's playing favouritism so hard." Rohini said with a grimace. "I don't like him."

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

The girl on Padma's right got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it.

"Cho Chang, Cho Chang!" A Ravenclaw cheered up.

"Diggory, Diggory!"

"Angelina!"

Finally the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff table uproared loudly, some students standing up on their seat while waiving their napkins as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table.

Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore.

And before Dumbledore could say anything, before his eyes went searching through the students' crowd for a particular face, Rohini had the nagging feeling that something wrong was going to happen once again.


	11. Chapter 11

Everybody was holding up their breath, the tension in the room so thick you could cut it like butter. Rohini felt Padma taking her hand and squeezing it hard. Somehow, her best friend probably knew what was going to happen next.

"Rohini Potter." Dumbledore finally said, his voice barely higher than a whisper.

"No." Rohini said, shaking her head as everybody in the Great Hall turned to look at her. Eyes wide opened and fearful, she tried to find some comfort in Padma and Luna's presence. "No, it can't be, I-I didn't- It's a joke,right?"

But there was no applause, no laugh, no Dumbledore suddenly smiling and telling her it was just one of his tricks. Paralysed, Rohini felt her breath getting faster as she looked around like a trapped doe, a cold sweat slowly covering her skin.

She spotted Harry, looking at her with worry and confusion; Ginny, looking like Rohini had been sentenced to death, half the students chore pointing at her and whispering like angry bees.

Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

"Rohini, breathe." Rohini heard Padma said, but the sound of her voice was muffled by Rohini's fast heartbeats.

Everything was feeling too shiny now, from the empty golden plates to the yet faint light of the candles. Rohini didn't know what to do or say; she wished she could just melt away from all those judgmental eyes on her or run away.

"I didn't put my name in," She said, her voice shaking and sounding slightly hysterical. "I swear, I didn'-"

"Rohini Potter!" Dumbledore called again. "Rohini! Up here, if you please!"

"You should go." Padma whispered before giving her a good luck kiss on the cheek and giving Rohini a slight push. Rohini stumbled on her feet and childishly thought she'd rather have Harry come with her.

"Go on." Luna whispered and Rohini nodded before walking as fast as she could towards the staff table, her eyes stuck on the marble floor as she refused to look at everybody else; she could heard whispers all around her, could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon her tiny silhouette, as though each were a searchlight.

The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, she was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon her.

"Professor, please-" She said in the tiniest voice but Dumbledore raised a finger to shush her.

" Through the door, Rohini," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

Swallowing, Rohini went through the door out of the Great Hall and found herself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite her.

The faces in the portraits turned to look at her as he entered.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Rohini walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

Unable to speak, Rohini shook her head. She felt like an alien next to those three older and much taller students. It hit her that they were also the elite of each school for having been chosen by the Goblet of fire. The elite, and herself, just a tiny fourteen years old witch who had never planned to get so much attention.

There was a sound of scurrying feet behind, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Rohini by the arm and led her forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Rohini's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen. . . lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion!"

Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Rohini who was trying to hide behind Ludo. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Rohini and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Rohini's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "She cannot compete. She is too young."

"Well. . . it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Rohini who was now turning green, "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as her name's come out of the goblet… I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage... It's down in the rules, you're obliged-"

"But I don't want to be a part of this Tournament!" Rohini said, alarmed.

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little girl is to compete also!"

In other circumstances, Rohini would have funny to be called a little girl. But on this instant, it was just another painful reminder of the age and strength difference between her and Fleur.

Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions - or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"

He gave a short and nasty laugh.

"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."

"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. She has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here -"

"I didn't do it!" Rohini shouted angrily.

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.

Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Rohini, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Rohini?" he asked calmly.

"Of course not!" Rohini said with a pleading expression. "Professor, you saw what happened to Fred and George! Nobody under the age limit was able to put their name in the goblet!"

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

"No, of c-" Rohini began but she was cut by Madame Maxime.

"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.

"I'm not LYING!" Rohini yelled angrily on top of her lungs, and everybody took a step back as the flames from the chimney suddenly grew the size of a horse before calming down.

"If I may," Professor Flitwick said, standing up between Rohini and Madame Maxime, "As the Head of the Ravenclaw House and Rohini's teacher, I can assure you that Miss Potter would never lie about this. She might have shown a reckless behaviour as Severus kindly pointed out, but I do believe that she isn't found of so much attention on herself."

"I couldn't have say it better." Dumbledore said with a smile at Professor Flitwick. "If you look closely at Rohini, it's quite evident that she would rather be somewhere else right now."

Once again, everybody's attention went back to Rohini who looked like she had just survived a stressful ship wreck.

"Mr. Crouch... Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our -er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half-darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.

"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"No!" Rohini shouted, eyes wide opened; she had been hoping Mr. Crouch would have been the first one to refuse her entrance into the tournament. "Please, no!"

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.

I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"

"-in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.

"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."

Rohini could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.

"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing she'd have to compete if it came out."

"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.

"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards -"

"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter." growled Moody.

"Why should 'she complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. "shE 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'she? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money - zis is a chance many would die for!"

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl.

An extremely tense silence followed these words. Rohini felt the last ounce of warmness leave her body as she pictured herself lying dead in front of the rest of the Champions. Professor Flitwick made a mousy noise and Professor McGonagall gasped indignantly as she grabbed Rohini's shoulder and squeezed it hard.

Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man… what a thing to say!"

"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons."

"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that goblet-"

"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands.

"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament... I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category…"

"But what about my age?" Rohini said, desperate. "I'm only fourteen for Merlin's sake!"

"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is - though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously-"

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to remember..."

"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction - Karkaroff's face was burning.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do-"

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -"

"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."

Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited. As for Rohini, she was mentally writing her dying will and making sure all of her friends will get a little something from her.

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" Ludo said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"

Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.

"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes . . . the first task . . ."

He moved forward into the firelight. Rohini was now whispering "no, no, no!" under her breath, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall trying to reassure her as Mr. Crouch began to spoke:

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Rohini, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard. . . very important. First task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges."

"I'm gonna die." Rohini said aloud and the three other champions glanced at her quickly before looking back at Mr. Crouch.

"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Rohini would have gladly passed a hundred end-of-the-year tests than participate in a deadly tournament.

Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"

"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"

"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry," said Mr. Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment... I've left young Weatherby in charge… Very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told…"

"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.

"Come on, Barry, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"

"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.

"Professor Karkaroff - Madame Maxime - a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.

But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Rohini could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall and she recognised a few not so charming words.

Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.

"Rohini, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

Too done to speak, Rohini followed as Cedric gently pushed her out of the room.

The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality.

"So," said Cedric, with a slight smile. "I played against the Seeker once, now I play against the Champion."

"You will probably be disappointed." Rohini said, trying to force a smile on her face. "I shouldn't even be a part of this. I don't want to be a part of this."

"You really have no idea how your name ended up in?" said Cedric as they reached the entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in the absence of the Goblet of Fire. Rohini shook her head and they walked towards the marble staircase in silence

Cedric headed for a door to its right and wished goodnight to Rohini who weakly waved at him.

She was going to head towards the Ravenclaw tower when something suddenly grabbed her. Yelping, she clenched her fist and was ready to protect herself until Harry pushed the Invisibility Cloak out of his face to reveal his presence.

"Harry!" Rohini said before bringing her brother into a tight hug. "Oh, Harry!"

"Rohini, you're suffocating me." Harry wheezed until Rohini let him go. Harry stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, he started to climb the marble ones.

"Harry, they went me to compete in the Tournament!" Rohini said, completely panicked. "I said I didn't want to, but they said I had no choice and- Oh god, I'm going to die!" She said, hiding her face in her hands.

"Rohini, breathe." Harry ordered her. "I… I'm sure there must be a solution, they can't let you face competitors who'd had three years' more magical education than you had!"

"Well, apparently they can." Rohini said bitterly. "Because of a magical sort of obligation or something. I hate wizards' stupid laws so much, right now! And Mad-Eye thinks someone's planning to get me killed…"

"What?" Harry said, bemused. "But who?"

"Really, Harry?" Rohini said shortly, "Really? You have no idea on who would like to see me dead?"

"Maybe Moody is just being his usual paranoid self?" Harry suggested. "I mean, think about it; how could Voldemort have find a way to put your name in the Goblet? And why you, and not me?"

"Thanks, Harry." Rohini said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean." Harry said with a frown. "I… I saw him, Rohi. In my dreams, remember? And it was my death he wanted, not yours."

"What?! You didn't tell me about this part!" Rohini yelled, ignoring the sleepy portraits protests. "Harry, that's serious!"

"Right now, our main problem is you and this tournament." Harry pointed out. "I don't know who put your name in and managed to get you sorted, but he reached his goal."

"I know…" Rohini said, looking vulnerable. "Harry, I don't think I can do this; I know I can be reckless sometimes, but not to the point of actually competing against three older students in a life threatening contest, under the eyes of a hundred people."

"You're smart, Rohini." Harry said. "And you're not alone; we're all going to protect you the best we can." Harry promised her. "I'm your big brother, after all. It's my job to keep an eye on my reckless sister."

"Idiot." Rohini said, feeling slightly better for the first time since her name had been called. "I- I guess you're right. We'll figure something out."

"That's the spirit." Harry said with a tired smile, messing up with Rohini's hair the same way she always did with his. "Go to bed, now."

"Yes, dad." Rohini chuckled. "Goodnight, Harry." She said, hugging her brother one last time before he hide himself under the cloak.

"Goodnight, Rohi'."

Rohini finally reached the Ravenclaw dorm, and hesitated before coming in. She had expected everybody to be in bed already but she almost got an heart attack as her schoolmates shouted her name and jumped on her.

"Rohini, are you ok?" Padma asked first, looking at Rohini from tips to toes, as if she had been kidnapped by a hoard of trolls. "What did they say?"

"They said I had no choice but enter." Rohini said grimly.

"But the age limit-"

"And what about Cedric-"

"It should have been Cho Chang-"

"It's too dangerous for a little girl like you-"

"How did you do it without getting a beard-"

"Stop!" Padma suddenly shouted and silence fell back on the dorm. "Can't you see she needs sleep? I've told you already, Rohini didn't put her name in the Goblet and it must have been a bad mistake! Now, let her go to bed. Goodnight!"

And grabbing Rohini by the arm, she pulled her towards their own bedroom where the three other girls tried to ask the same questions but one warning glance from Padma silenced them. They both sit on Padma's bed and the girl closed the curtains for more privacy.

Before she could say anything, Luna's head popped in and Rohini moved a bit to give her some space.

"So?" They asked Rohini, looking tense.

"I… Dumbledore and Mr. Crouch said I'll have to enter; once your name is picked, there's no coming back." Rohini said, looking grim.

"No way!" Padma shouted. "They can't let you in! I will write to mum tomorrow, see if she can't convince Fudge to interfere."

"I highly doubt he will be able to do anything." Rohini said, hopeless. "Gosh, I hate to admit it, but I'm scared."

"Understandable reaction." Luna sighed before resting her head against Rohini's shoulders. "Fear will protect you, Rohini; it will keep you safe during the tournament."

"You do believe me, right?" Rohini asked, almost worried about her friends' answer. "You know I didn't do it, do you?"

"Of course we do!" Padma said, perplexed that Rohini seemed to doubt that. "Rohi', we have spent the whole day with you; and you're too lazy to wake up in the middle of the night to put your name in the goblet." She tried to joke and Rohini smiled weakly.

"Thanks, you two. It means a lot to me." She said before bringing her friends into another tight embrace. "I don't want to compete." She said in a shaky voice, the sound muffled as she buried her head against Padma's shoulder.

"We know, Rohi'" Luna said as she gently caressed Rohini's hair. "We know."

None of them slept well that night and things didn't get better as rumours began to rise the next day, people from every Houses and schools sneering and looking at Rohini suspiciously.

Even the Ravenclaws didn't cheer loudly like the Gryffindors would have probably done if Harry had been the one chosen; instead, they were looking at Rohini warily, probably wondering how the tiny witch would survive the tournament.

And as Rohini found herself unable to eat, she realised that she, too, was wondering the same thing.


	12. Chapter 12

For once in her life, Rohini wished Sundays didn't exist. If today had been a Monday for example, she could have concentrate on her classes and pretend yesterday had never happened until bedtime. But alas for her, Sundays did exist and time seemed annoyingly frozen.

Feeling slightly nauseous, she refused to stay in the castle where everybody –ghosts, students, even portraits- were staring and pointing at her. As they left the Great Hall, a Beauxbatons student purposely bumped into Rohini, he and his friends sneering as she stumbled down and was caught right in time by Ginny.

"Let me take care of it." Her friend said before going after the older boy. And before Rohini could stop her, Ginny had already gotten her wand out and executed a perfect bat-bogey hex.

Laughing as the boy and his friends ran away, screaming and bats coming out of their nostrils, Rohini thanked her friend for defending her.

"Nobody touch my friends." Ginny said fiercely.

"Well said." Padma said with a nod before passing a protective arm around Rohini's shoulders. "I need to send a letter to mum, see if she can have a talk with someone at the Ministry about you being a part of this tournament."

"You really don't have to do that." Rohini said, embarrassed. "I mean, I don't want your mum to be in trouble because of me or anything…"

"She will learn about it eventually, so the earliest the better." Padma assured her as the four of them headed towards the Owlery. They walked in silence except for Luna who was humming a soft tune, probably hopping to soothe Rohini's nerves.

They were surprised however to cross path with Harry, Ron and Hermione midway to the top of the tower.

"Hi, Champion." Ron said and Rohini gave him a tired glance.

"You can brew some Polyjuice and take my place in the tournament, if you want." She told him shortly.

"Nobody here wants to be part of this stupid tournament." Hermione hurried to say as Ron opened his mouth. Judging by the look she gave him, they had already talked about it earlier.

"What were you doing here?" Rohini asked Harry.

"I forgot to write back to Sirius." He said before adding, "I told him about what happened yesterday, too."

"Oh." Rohini said, blinking. "I suppose he deserves the right to know, yeah… Though I have a feeling he'll come to the same conclusion as Mad-Eye."

"Which is?" Hermione asked; apparently, Harry hadn't told them everything yet.

"He thinks… he thinks somebody purposely put my name in the goblet in hope I'll eventually die during one of the tasks." Rohini admitted.

Hermione gasped, horrified, and Ron frowned.

"Killing you? Why?"

"Don't be stupid, Ron." Ginny said to her brother. "She and Harry always find a way to defeat Voldemort's plan to go back to his full strength."

"Yeah, I know that." Ron said shortly. "I mean, why during the tournament? Sure, it's reputed dangerous but Dumbledore will be here, too; he's smart enough not to let a student die on his watch."

"Your faith in him is really touching." Rohini said. "It's not like we all escaped life threatening situation at last once since we began to study here."

"I didn't." Padma whispered and Luna nodded.

"Lucky you." Harry said. "How about you? What are you doing here?"

"Escaping reality." Rohini sighed. "And Padma want to write to her mum, see if she can find someone willing to help me."

"Wise decision." Hermione agreed. "We'll wait for you downstairs. Be careful; it's a bit slippery at the top."

"You can use Hedwig," Harry shouted at Padma as the girls reached the top, "she's sulking because I couldn't send her."

Indeed, the snowy owl refused to let Rohini approached her at first, and it's only when Luna found some owl treats at the bottom of her bag that she finally let the girls get close enough to tie up Padma's letter to her leg.

Rohini assured Hedwig that Harry had no choice but to use another owl, that he still loved her the most and that he was sad that she was upset at him, but Hedwig clicked her beak and refused Rohini's caress before flying off into the grey sky.

"How can an owl have so much personality?" Padma said, bemused.

"Don't ask me." Rohini sighed.

Seeing as the sky was getting darker and the wind was raising, they hurried to leave the Owlery and meet up with Harry, Ron and Hermione who were waiting for them.

"I don't want to go back inside, but a storm is coming…" Rohini said and they all looked up and grimaced; already, a thin rain was beginning to fall.

"We could hide in Moaning Myrtle's toilets." Hermione suggested but the boys refused vehemently.

"She's head over heels after Harry, remember?" Ron said.

"How about visiting Hagrid?" Luna suggested.

"That's a good idea, but I'm not sure his hut is big enough to get us all in…" Rohini said, before her attention was caught by a group of Slytherins booing her from the Main Gates. "Actually, that's a good idea. Let's visit Hagrid."

"But-"

" _Let's visit Hagrid_."

"You heard the Champion." Harry said, half grinning and Rohini pushed him with a groan.

Hagrid didn't even blink as he opened the door to find seven students waiting here under the rain and he stepped aside to let them in.

As Luna went through his cupboards to find enough cup and Ron began to make some tea, Hagrid questioned Rohini about the Goblet incident.

"Can't believe they let yeh' in." He was grumbling in his beard. "Yeh' way too youn' for that!"

"Tell me something new." Rohini said, resting her chin against the oaken table.

"See the good side of it," Ron said while serving them a cup of steamy mint tea each, "You'll get rich; the winner get a thousand galleons prize money, remember?"

"Do you really expect me to win? Against Cedric? Against your wonderful, talented Krum?" Rohini asked him, bemused.

"Well, it's true that Krum is the obviously the best-"

"Thanks, Ron." Ginny said flatly. Ron ignored her as he kept going:

"-But you're the smartest girl of our year, after Hermione." He finished and Rohini blinked, surprised; she hadn't expected the compliment, especially from Ron who seemed slightly envious of her situation.

"Thanks, Ron." She said. "Though you are more strategical than us, especially when it comes to chess." She admitted and Ron's ears became slightly crimson as he gave her a little smile.

"Is it Praising Day or something?" Ginny asked, making them all laugh. The tension had vanished a bit now and the group of friends decided to stay at Hagrid's place until lunch.

And though Rohini was terrified about what was waiting for her once the tournament began, though her legs began to shake every time she imagined hundred peoples staring at her as she fought to stay alive, 'she felt like as if a weak flame had been lit inside her heart by the sight of her friends sitting around her and swearing to protect her.

As classes started again, Rohini realised the hard way that her friends' support will be quite needed; if the Gryffindors seemed to take the fact she was Hogwarts' second champion really well (Fred and George were especially delighted about it), it wasn't the case of everybody else.

The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Eagle House, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of them, as if they were all to blame in Rohini's name.

Ernie Macmillan "accidentally" spilled the potion they were brewing during a Double Potions class on Rohini's robes, burning a huge hole in them. Professor Sprout, the Head of the Hufflepuff House, had been less friendly with Rohini, too, and yet she was quite a cheerful woman usually. Bothered by that fact, Rohini had waited for the end of the Herbology class to go have a talk with her, swearing that she'd rather let the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw competition to the Quidditch players.

Her speech must have been convincing for Professor Sprout went back to her usual safe right after, much to Rohini's relief.

There was, of course, the Slytherin problem; it was too much of a good opportunity for Malfoy to let it go, and so he made sure to block Rohini's way as they waited for their double Transfiguration class to begin.

"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle with a sneer. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt she's going to be around much longer… Half the Triwizard champions have died. How long do you reckon you'll survive, Potter? Two? Five minutes?"

"Long enough to see you die in your own venom, Malfoy." Rohini spat between her clenched teeth. "Who knows maybe one of the tasks will be to go ferret hunting? Since you made such a good impression with Mad-Eye, maybe they will decide to take you in."

Malfoy lost his smile instantly and Padma hide her snort as a cough.

"Think you're funny, don't you?" He said, taking a step closer to Rohini. "Laugh while you still can, Potter."

Rohini bite back a snarky comment as Professor McGonagall opened the door to let them in.

"Potter, I need a word." The strict teacher said at the end of the class.

"I'll wait for you outside." Padma whispered before closing the door behind.

"Yes, Professor?" Rohini asked nervously.

"Potter, due to the latest circumstances, I have taken the decision to double your training." Professor McGonagall said. "It is unconceivable that a fourteen years old, as skilled as she is, enter the tournament without being prepared first."

"But… I thought we weren't supposed to get help from the teachers and judges?" Rohini said, confused.

"Well, we can't help you for the tasks themselves, obviously." Professor McGonagall said, rising her eyebrows. "However, it is already well known that you are under my tutoring for your Animagus training. We will meet on Monday and Saturday, in this classroom, at five o' clock."

"I- Thank you, professor." Rohini said earnestly before heading towards the door to leave.

"Potter?" Professor McGonagall called.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Be careful."

"Of course, Professor." Rohini said with a nod before closing the door behind.

"So?" Padma asked her as they both headed back to the Ravenclaws' Common Room.

"Nothing much; she will keep training me twice a week."

"That's good!" Padma said, looking more cheerful. "At least you will not be totally disadvantaged next to the other champions."

"Padma, I can't learn the equivalent of three school years in just a month." Rohini sighed. "I don't even have the look of a champion." She said, slightly bitter, as they caught sight of Cedric Diggory and his friends in the stairway.

Conveniently handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, grey eyes and polite smile, it was hard to say who was more popular these days; Cedric or Viktor Krum?

"You can't compare yourself to two Quidditch players; of course you don't have the same built." Padma pointed out.

"I highly doubt Fleur is a Seeker either, yet everybody looks at her with adoration." Rohini pointed out.

"Are you perhaps jealous of her?" Padma asked.

"Of course not." Rohini said. "I've been told I had beautiful eyes, once."

"It's not the only beautiful thing about you, Rohi'." Padma assured her and Rohini couldn't help but smile, her cheeks warming up a bit at the compliment. "And it's just as Ron said; you're one of the smartest girls of our generation, don't forget it."

"Thanks, Padma." Rohini said, feeling slightly pumped up.

Her sudden surge of happiness however, didn't last.

The next morning, most students from the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins houses were wearing large badges that Rohini mistaken for _S.P.E.W._ badges at first, until she was close enough to read in luminous red letters:

 _SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY, THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!_

"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Rohini gave him a tired glance. "And this isn't all they do - look!"

He pressed his badge and the message vanished, replaced by horrible green letters:

 _POTTER STINKS!_

The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Rohini.

"Ahahah." Rohini said slowly. "You know what else stinks, Malfoy? Your father's perfume. Smells like the rotten egg he is."

The Slytherins stopped laughing all at once but a group of Gryffindor that had stopped to eardrop snickered. Turning even paler than usual, Malfoy reached for his wand and Rohini barely had time to get hers out and yelled " _Protego_!" that Malfoy was shouting " _Densaugeo_!" and a few students yelled as they jumped away.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and Malfoy's spell ricocheted off right into his face.

"Draco!" Pansy Parkinson shouted, horrified, as she hurried forward to Malfoy.

People burst in laugh at the sight of Malfoy's face; his front teeth were now growing at an alarming rate; he was looking more and more like a beaver as his teeth elongated.

Laughing with the rest, Rohini picked up Malfoy's badge that had fallen and took a long look at it before pinning it up to her own robes, like some kind of weird trophy.

"Serves him right." Padma said as they headed to the highest tower of the castle for their Divination class. "Do you think the spell will last?"

"I hope so." Rohini said. "I can't wait to see his father sue me for turning his son into a rabbit."

"Ginny would be proud of you." Padma said and the girls laughed as they began to climb the silver ladder.

The class had barely began however –and Professor Trelawney had predicted Rohini's death only twice, when a young Ravenclaw girl's head emerged from the trap.

"I'm sorry to disturb your lesson," she said, obviously anxious as everybody turned to look at her, "but Rohini Potter is requested downstairs."

"Oh, yes, of course." Professor Trelawney said slowly. "Do not worry, my dear; I knew that this class would be interrupted already; I read it in my morning tea cup."

"Oh." The girl only said. "Well…"

"Go, my child." Professor Trelawney said dramatically to Rohini. "I have to warn you, though; you will not join us again-", Someone gasped, probably thinking she was going to announce Rohini's death for the third time, "until the next class."

"Bye." Rohini mumbled awkwardly before leaving the dark room and its heavy, slightly sickening smell.

She and the girl walked in silence, Rohini not in the mood to talk and the girl probably too shy to say a word.

"Here it is." The girl told her once they had reached the right room. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Rohini said. "It was… nice of you, to come and pick me up."

"Pleasure." The girl said before leaving.

Left alone, Rohini realised she had no idea why she was needed exactly. Taking a deep breath, she finally knocked at the door and entered.

The room was fairly small and slightly dusty; it was probably the first time in ages it had come to an use.

Most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet.

Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Rohini had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Harry had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light.

A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye with a look that made Rohini feel rather uncomfortable.

"Ah, here she is! Champion number four!" Bagman said suddenly as he spotted Rohini, and bounced towards her like a child on Christmas day. "In you come, Rohini, in you come...nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"The what?" Rohini cut him. Her attention had been caught by Krum, who was now looking at his own wand with interest. 'Please, don't let me have to get into a duel with him.' She thought nervously.

"The Wand Weighing ceremony!" Bagman said without losing his enthusiasm. "We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," he explained.

"Oh." Was Rohini's less enthusiastic answer. She saw Cedric hide a smile as he listened to their conversation.

"The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," Ludo added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet-"

"Maybe not that small, Ludo." Said Rita Skeeter suddenly, her eyes on Rohini. "We have one of the famous Potter twins with us, after all."

Rohini cringed; she didn't know Skeeter yet, but she already disliked her.

Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face and she was wearing jewelled spectacles that probably costed more than all of Rohini's belongings.

"I wonder if I could have a little word with Rohini before we start?" Skeeter asked Bagman. "She is the youngest and less expected champion, after all." She let go of a little annoying giggle. "You know, to add a bit of…colour?"

"Certainly!" Bagman said, beaming. "That is, if Rohini has no objection."

"Actually, I d-" Rohini began but she was shushed by Skeeter.

"Lovely." Said the annoying woman and in a second, her scarlet pointy fingers had Rohini's upper arm in her surprisingly strong grip as she steered her inside a tiny broom cupboard where she forced Rohini to sat on a dusty bucket.

Rita Skeeter perched herself precariously upon a cardboard box.

"Let's see…" She mumbled, unsnapping her crocodile-skin handbag and pulling out a handful of candles, which she lit with a wave of her wand and made them float above their heads. For the split of a second, Rohini was worried that she would accidentally set fire to the cupboard and kill them both.

"You won't mind if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill?" She asked Rohini, though she didn't waited for Rohini's answer and reached again into her crocodile bag and drew out a long acid-green quill and a role of parchment that she stretched out between them on a crate.

She put the tip of the green quill into her mouth, sucked it for a moment with apparent relish, and then placed it upright on the parchment, where it stood balanced on its point, quivering slightly.

"Testing… My name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet Reporter."

Rohini blinked and raised a sceptical eyebrow as the quill wrote "Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, who's savage quill has puncture many inflated reputations-"

"Duh." Rohini simply said.

Rita leaned closer to Rohini, her smile reminding Rohini of a shark.

"So, my dear Rohini… what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Easy answer; nothing. _I_ didn't decide to enter." Rohini said before getting distracted by the quill. "Hold on a second!" She said angrily as she read what was being written, "I'm not being jealous of Harry's popularity!"

"Ignore the quill, Rohini," said Rita Skeeter firmly. "and please answer my question honestly."

"I just did." Rohini said between her gritted teeth.

"Come now, Rohini, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble." Rita said with a wink. "We all know our readers love a rebellious girl."

"Did you listen to what I just said, you little-"

"How do you feel about the tasks ahead?" cut her Skeeter. "Excited? Nervous? Ready to prove yourself?"

"Dead inside." Rohini said, deadpan.

"Speaking of death, Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" said Rita Skeeter briskly. Rohini took a deep breath.

"Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you?" said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"

"Oh, I don't know, how do you think it would affect a teenage girl and her brother?" Rohini asked. Rita's smile was clearly forced now; she probably hadn't expected the interview to go this way.

"Do you think the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself to the world? To live up to your name? To surpass your brother's reputation?"

"I don't need to prove myself to anyone else but me." Rohini growled. "And for the last time, I'm not jealous of Harry; he is his own person, and I am mine. Period."

Rohini began to stand up but it didn't stop Rita Skeeter for asking how her parents would have feel about it if they were still alive.

"How about you ask them yourself? Oh, I forgot; they're dead. I apologise, but I don't know them well enough to predict their reaction." And on those heated words, Rohini slammed the door of the cupboard open and headed towards the exit but a firm hand on her shoulders stopped her; it was Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, I-" Rohini began and Dumbledore gave her a knowing smile.

"The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is missing. I've heard you had been kidnapped by our lovely journalist. Please, go sit with the other champions."

The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and Rohini sat down quickly next to Cedric, hooking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting - Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman.

Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Rohini saw her slip the parchment out of her bag again, spread it on her knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it once more on the parchment.

Only Bagman and Dumbledore were actually smiling genuinely; the rest of the judges were throwing nasty glances at Rohini, as if she was just an annoying fly they wished to crush between their fingers.

"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions.

"He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

An old wizard with large, pale eyes came out of the shadows; Rohini had met Mr. Ollivander before for he was the best wand-maker of the country, and the one that sold her wand to Rohini on the twins' first trip to Diagon Alley, over three years ago.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room. Nodding, Fleur Delacour swept elegantly over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.

There was an interested expression on the old man face as he twirled the wand between his long fingers; the wand emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches...inflexible...rosewood...and containing...dear me!"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

Rohini wasn't surprised to learn that Fleur was part veela; she was stunning enough to make it quite obvious. It would have been more of a surprise if Rohini had been the one with veela blood inside her veins.

"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander with a smile, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands...however, to each his own, and if this suits you..."

He then checked the wand for scratches or bumps and muttered "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur, as well as her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you're next."

Fleur glide back to her seat and smiled at Cedric as he passed her.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn...must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches...ash...pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition...You treat it regularly?"  
"I polished it last night." Ceric said, grinning. Rohini shamefully realised that though her wand was working perfectly, it hadn't been polished a single time since she bought it.

As Mr. Ollivander examined Cedric's wand, Rohini tried to clean up her own with her robe and blushed shamefully as Fleur gave her a very patronizing look.

Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then asked for Krum to come closer.

Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

Rohini wondered how old he truly was; seventeen at last, but he had this kind of "young adult" vibe, probably due to his closed expression and his size.

"Hornbeam and dragon hearstring?" Mr. Ollivander asked, and Krum nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees… quite rigid, too and a quarter inches… _Avis_!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight. Rohini made a mental note to remember this spell as Krum went back to his seat.

"Well, it only leaves one person… Miss Potter."

Gulping, Rohini stood up and accidentally bumped into Fleur's chair. Turning crimson, Rohini hurried towards the old man, ignoring Karkaroff and Madame Maxime sneering from the judges table.

"I remember the day you and your brother came to buy your wand, Miss Potter. It had been such a curious choice that the one of your brother's wand… but for now, it's yours I'm interested in." He said, taking the wand from Rohini's hand.

"Black walnut, hard to master but I've heard you've done really well with it so far. Could be polished more often, though." Mr. Ollivander said, and Rohini could swear she had seen him wink. Then, he used the wand to summon a tiny pearl that he offered to Rohini.

"It seems that all of the champions' wands are in perfect condition to be used, Albus." He then said to Dumbledore.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You might go-"

Rohini was already standing up when the man with the black camera grabbed her with a 'tut!' of his tongue.

"What?" Rohini said, feeling quite moody.

"Photos, my dear, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "We can't pass the opportunity to photography our four champions while they are all in one piece!"

Rohini threw him a nasty look, ready to refuse, but the photographer left her no choice and pushed her back towards the rest of the champions.

"Let's do some individual shots after that." Rita Skeeter suggested.

"I'd rather not." Rohini said, though her remark was ignored.

The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her.

Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl; Krum, whom Rohini would have thought would have been used to this sort of thing, skulked, half-hidden, at the back of the group.

The photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita Skeeter kept hurrying forward and dragging Rohini into greater prominence.

"It's important to see both girls," She argued, "to inspire our female readers, make them feel empowered!"

"I doubt I look very empowering…" Rohini grumbled and, to her surprise, both Cedric and Fleur chuckled and even Krum looked less sulky.

Finally, they were free to go.

"You didn't look much happier, earlier." Cedric said as he slowed down to be at Rohini's level. "Was it something Skeeter said to you?"

"She's the rudest woman I've ever met after Aunt Marge." Rohini said between her teeth. "Acting as if I purposely find a way to be in this stupid tournament…"

"I have to admit, I did think that you put your name in the goblet." Diggory confessed. "But you look so reluctant in being a part of it, it's pretty obvious you'd rather not be concerned."

"Glad someone finally understood that." Rohini said bitterly.

"I don't think you should compete." A deep, grumpy voice said and Rohini realised as he walked past them that it was the first time she heard Krum's voice.

"Duh." Rohini just said.

An awkward silence followed as both Hogwarts champion headed towards the Great Hall. A few heads turned and looked at them in confusion, probably wondering how Cedric could act so casually around the girl who was stealing a bit of his fame.

Trying to ignore them, Rohini waved at Cedric and sat at the Ravenclaw table, waiting for Padma and Luna. She was in the middle of a long essay about antidotes when her friends finally arrived.

"What did I miss?" She asked Padma who shrugged.

"Nothing much. I was too worried about you to concentrate properly, to be honest." Padma admitted.

"What happened?" Luna asked, confused; she didn't know Rohini had to leave at the beginning of the Divination's lesson.

"They wanted to check the champions' wand, and take a picture." Rohini grimaced. "And there was this aweful woman, Rita Skeeter-"

"Oh no, not her." Padma said and even Luna looked upset. "She's the meanest, most incompetent journalist ever. You should have read what she has written about mum, once…"

"She wasn't kind with The Quibbler either." Luna said with a light frown. "I've never seen dad looks so upset…"

"No wonder, she's the worst." Rohini said. "And I don't know what her quill was, but it was writing a totally different version of our interview…"

"It might be for the best if you don't read the next edition of the Daily Prophet." Padma said, anxious.

"Great." Rohini said, crushing her potatoes with her fork, projecting Skeeter's face on them.

Her mood got slightly lighter however when Harry joined them at the end of the meal to give her the letter he received from Sirius. They hide in an empty corridor for Rohini to read it in peace.

"That was fast!" Rohini said, surprised.

"He must be hiding closer than expected…" Harry said, obviously bothered by that fact.

It said:

 _Harry, Rohini,_

 _I can't say everything I would like to you two in this letter in case the owl is intercepted._

 _But I know a way to talk face-to-face. It might be risky though, for both Rohini and you need to be alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at 1am, the 22_ _nd_ _of November; use your father's cloak to let Rohini sneak in._

 _Whoever put Rohini's name in the goblet knew what they were doing; it was a risky move, especially under Dumbledore's nose. Be careful, you two; foes are closer than what you might think._

 _(Ps: How is your scar? Do you still have nightmare? I want to hear about anything unusual._

 _PPS: I know you're probably not happy about it, but congratulations on being Hogwarts' second champion, Rohini. Your parents would be proud (_ _Terrified for your safety, but proud_ _))_

 _Padfoot_

"Do you think he will use Foo Powder?" Harry asked but Rohini shook her head.

"I highly doubt it; what if someone accidentally step in and see the oh so dangerous Sirius Black chilling in the Gryffindor's Common Room?"

"You've got a point." Harry sighed. Then he took a closer look at Rohini. "Are you having troubles sleeping? You look awful."

"Wow, thanks Harry. You sure know how to compliment girls." Rohini said sarcastically and Harry gave her an unimpressed look. "I could tell you the same thing; you don't look so great either, big brother."

"I'm worried about you." Harry said, looking worried. "I- what if it truly was Voldemort's plan to get you killed? I can't lose you, too." He said and Rohini felt her chest clench painfully; getting rid of her would be the most effective way for Voldemort to get to Harry; Rohini herself couldn't imagine a life without her brother by her side.

Still, she forced a smile on her face.

"I will be alright, Harry. I promise."

"I hope so, Rohi." Harry sighed. "I hope so."

Silent fell once more and the twins starred uncertainly at the starry sky, the mood barely hidden between clouds.


	13. Chapter 13

Padma and Luna had been right on one thing: the article written by Rita Skeeter had been the worst thing Rohini had ever read, excluding Lockhart's' books.

Her published piece about the Triwizard Tournament had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly coloured life story of Rohini.

Instead of a picture of the four champions and the judges, the main page was filled with a picture of Rohini who could swear she hadn't looked so full of herself during the photoshoot.

The article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Rohini, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.

"You really shouldn't read it." Padma warned Rohini as she took the newspaper, a sick feeling in her stomach as everybody whispered and pointed at her, the Daily Prophet opened in front of them.

The article went like this:

 ** _THE UNKNOWN FACE OF ROHINI POTTER, THE TWIN FROM THE SHADOWS_**

 _Worldly famous thanks to her parents' death at the hands of You-Know-Who and the defeat the dark wizard faced when attacking her brilliant brother, living in the shadow of Harry Potter since then, Rohini Potter, driven by a furious jealousy for her brother's fame, had decided to purposely enter the Triwizard Tournament and thus became Hogwarts' second champion in the tournament, a decision that many protest against._

 _When asked about her shady motives, the tormented girl showed her real colours as she tried to attack the defenceless, beautiful Rita Skeeter who was only trying to understand how the sister of the Boy Who Lived could be such a petty, disturbed girl._

 _Rumoured to be one of the best students Hogwarts had ever know, her answers were yet quite primitive and far from wise._

 _With such anger management issues and a serious lack of social skills, it might come to a surprise for our readers to learn that Rohini Potter has managed to find herself some friends, (probably due to her brother's fame.)_

 _Unlike the gorgeous Beauxbatons' champion, Potter show absolutely no interest in her dull appearance; it's quite hard not to focus on her terribly thick eyebrows and bad skin condition while talking to her._

 _However, things might not be a lost case for this unlikely champion; it is well known that love can do miracles._

 _Desperately single, Rohini Potter confessed that she couldn't wait to meet the love of her life, which might help her become a less sulky, terribly mean person._

Rohini blinked slowly, her expression blank. Then came the rage; burning like a brazier inside of her chest, burning so hard her skin was becoming warmer too. Rohini could feel it growing and growing, running through her body like a Basilisk's venom. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't talk; her anger and shame she felt as she knew that hundreds of people would have read this article was too overwhelming.

"Rohi?" Padma asked, but Rohini didn't hear her. "Rohini, talk to m-"

But Rohini stood up so violently her goblet filled with pumpkin juice spilled it all over the newspaper and without a word, she left the Great Hall, feeling every single student's eyes on her back.

She left the castle and, ignoring the pouring rain, circled the lake to be as far away as everyone as possible. Then, she took the deepest breath she could, and screamed. It was a dreadful, ear- splitting scream, filled with the worst possible kind of anger and humiliation, the kind that sounds more like a beast than a human, the kind that cracks as one begins to run out of air.

Not satisfied, Rohini began to swear loudly and grabbed the closest pebbles that she threw as far away as she could, watching them sink under the dark surface of the lake.

Here she was now, soaked wet and unable to get rid of her emotions, wanting nothing more than to disappear from the surface of the earth. Nothing could help her feel better on this instant.

"I see someone has a lot on her chest." Said someone behind her.

Rohini's heart missed a beat and her anger turned into fear; of all the people that could have witness her in such a state, it had to be Dana.

Clenching her hands to stop them from shaking, Rohini bit her lips before turning to face the tall girl from Durmstrang. She had expected her to look puzzled or slightly disgusted by Rohini, and was surprised to see Dana look at her with sympathy.

"You're soaked to the bone, little saviour." She said before getting her wand out. "Let me help you out, this time."

Next thing she knew, Rohini's clothes were dry and comfortably warm again, as if they were freshly out of the dryer.

"Thanks." Rohini said weakly, her throat sore from shouting. "I, huh, am sorry for...this." She said, vaguely gesturing at herself. Dana chuckled.

"Nothing I can't understand; that was quite the article in the newspaper about you."

"So you've read it, too." Rohini said bitterly as she looked down.

"I might have heard about it, yeah." Dana said lightly before nodding towards the closest tree. "Here, let's have a seat." She walked towards the oak tree, took off her cape, and laid it on the ground. She then sat on it, patting the spot next to her.

Rohini hesitated but ended up sitting at a reasonable distance from the other girl.

"Thanks." She mumbled, clutching her knees against her chest and resting her chin on top of them.

"No problem." Dana said with a smile.

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the howling wind and to the pouring rain that was magically repealed from falling on the two girls.

"I've heard there was a giant squid, in this lake." Dana suddenly said. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, it is." Rohini said, taken aback from the strange question. "I- do you have one, too? A giant squid at your school, I mean."

"No, but we have an underwater creature; it looks a bit like a wingless dragon, and it tries to drown you if you come too close to the surface." Dana said and Rohini raised an eyebrow. Dana laughed. "Ok, I lied about the drowning part. But there's really a huge creature under the frozen surface of the lake."

"Neat." Rohini said, a weak smile dancing on her lips as she pictured a giant Nessie lazily swimming under the ice. "I wish I could see it."

"I'd love to say "Come to visit us" but I highly doubt Professor Karkaroff would like it." Dana said. "He's very…cautious, almost obsessed when it comes to keeping Durmstrang's location a secret."

"Maybe he's hiding something." Rohini couldn't help but say. "I mean-"

"It's ok." Dana reassured her. "As someone who has been hiding for years, I think he does hide something." A shadow passed on Dana's face.

"What do you mean?" Rohini asked, curious. Dana shook her head and gave a smile to Rohini that didn't fully reach her eyes.

"I'm sorry little saviour, but you haven't unlocked my tragic backstory yet."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Rohini apologised but Dana waved her hand as if it wasn't bothering her at all. "So… what were you doing here? Under the rain, I mean?"

"I wanted to go change into more comfy clothes and have a run around the castle's ground." Dana explained. "Then I saw you, and couldn't help but be a little nosy."

"Oh." Rohini said.

Silence, then…

"Are you a good runner?" Dana asked.

"I think so, yeah. I mean, I'm usually faster than most." Rohini said, hoping she didn't sound too full of herself. Dana's smile grew bigger.

"Awesome! I was looking for someone to run with, if you're ok with it, that's it."

Rohini wanted to refuse at first, but then she considered it; running would probably help with her anger, and it might come in handy to get into a better physical shape before the beginning of the tournament.

"Sure." She said with a little smile. "I can't promise I'll be as good as you, though."

"Great; it leaves room for improvement, doesn't it?" Dana pointed out. Then she took a look at her watch. "Guess it's too late for that today, but how about Sunday morning, 9am? I will wait for you at the Main Gates." Dana said, beaming and Rohini found herself smiling back.

"Bogdana!" Someone called and the girls saw two Durmstrang boys walking towards them. Then, the tallest one said something in a language Rohini didn't understand, glancing at her before looking back at Dana, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Well, it looks like I'm needed somewhere else." Dana sighed as she stood up and Rohini did the same. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Rohini. Though I wish the circumstances had been different."

"Well, I guess I'll be able to call you my own saviour, now." Rohini said with an awkward chuckle. Dana laughed.

"We're on an equal foot, then. See you on Sunday!" Dana said before following the two boys forward the Durmstrang ship.

Rohini watched them disappeared into the mist and sighed. She didn't feel like going back to the castle yet, but she didn't feel like staying alone for too long either. Glancing down, she realised Dana had forgotten her cape.

Picking it up, Rohini folded it properly, feeling the warm fur under her cold fingers and smiling. Then, she put the cape into her bag and walked back to the castle where her brother and friends were looking for her.

"Rohini!" Ginny shouted, relieved, when she saw her. "Thanks Merlin, you're alright! Where did you go? And how come your clothes are still dry, it's pouring bloody hard."

"I, huh, met someone." Rohini said before blushing as she realised how it sounded. "I mean, I met someone by the lake and-"

"What's that?" Ginny cut her, looking curiously at the fur that was poking out of Rohini's bag. Rohini resisted the urge to hide her burning face into her hands.

"Dana's cape."

"Dana?"

"A Durmstrang student. She's the one I bumped into. We sat on her cape but she forgot it, so I'm keeping it until we met again."

"I see." Ginny said, and Rohini could swear her friend looked slightly amused.

"Oh, would you look at that." Rohini said, checking her watch. "I think we're running late for our classes, guess we'll have to talk about this later, bye!"

"I'm sure we will." Ginny said with a smile before she took the direction to the dungeons. Groaning, Rohini took her sweet time to go to her History of Magic lesson, knowing perfectly that it would be quite boring and that everybody will stare at her during the whole hour.

Looking extremely worried about Rohini had first, Padma seemed to relax as Rohini told her what happened and even raised an eyebrow as Rohini told her about the running partner thing.

"She seems… friendly." Padma said. "Really friendly."

"Yeah, I was surprised when she ask-" Rohini began before stopping with a frown. "What's wrong?" She asked and Padma pinched her lips.

"I don't know. I mean, she sounds really sweet but… she's still a Durmstrang student. It's probably not the case, but she might have hidden motives; our school are competition against each other after all, and you're one of our champions."

"Oh." Rohini said, losing her smile. "Yeah, I suppose you're right… Maybe I should have refused-"

"Now, now!" Padma stopped her with a nudge. "She might be sincere, too! And she better be, or older student or not, I will make sure to use Ginny's bat bogey hex on her." Padma promised.

"Excuse me," Professor Binns said suddenly as he floated in front of the girl's table, "but some people would like to listen to this lesson about the witch hunt during the Italian Renaissance."

Judging by the look on everybody's face, no one was actually interested by this but the girls had the decency to look ashamed and apologised.

"Maybe you could come and run with us?" Rohini suggested and Padma grimaced.

"Running? On a cold Sunday morning? No thank you. But Ginny might be interested, since she had been training to become a Quidditch player next year…"

"I will keep that in mind." Rohini said, the picture of Ginny's amused face from earlier coming back to her.

In the end, Rohini did asked Ginny if she was interested and after a quick introduction to Dana, it soon became quite obvious that the two girls were getting along well; Dana had been delighted to hear that one of the Weasley boys was working with dragons, and Ginny was interested to learn one or two things about Krum's personal training.

"How comes you know about it?" She asked two week before the first task.

"A few students at Durmstrang had been trying to copy him, hoping to become as famous as him one day." Dana explained as the three of them were stretching after an intense but satisfying run. "I'm not a Quidditch player, but I still like to stay in good shape and so I decided to learn about his routine."

"Nice…" Ginny sighed dreamily.

"I really hope none of the tasks include fighting each other in a duel." Rohini said nervously. "He could crush me even without using his wand."

"I doubt he would go that far." Dana said with a laugh. "I know he can look like a gloomy prick, but I've heard he was just socially awkward."

"Will you be rooting for Rohini, then?" Ginny asked with a teasing smile and Rohini felt a weight in her chest as she realised that the first task was closer than ever.

"As much as I appreciate her, I'm afraid I'm still a proud Durmstrang girl." Dana said with a laugh. "Don't want to have the whole school against me, do I?"

"Oh look, speaking of the wolf." Ginny said, pointing at something.

Putting her glasses back on her nose, Rohini narrowed her eyes and realised Ginny was speaking of Victor Krum who was standing in front of the library without getting inside.

"He has been hanging around here quite a lot, doesn't he?" Rohini said, wondering if he was studying or doing some research for the first task.

"Even athletic people use their brain, sometimes." Ginny said. "Hermione isn't going to be happy about it."

Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered her - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.

"He's not even good-looking!" she would mutter angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky Faint thing -"

"Wronski Feint." Ginny, Ron and Harry would correct her, only making her sulkier.

Even if Rohini found some comfort in her personal training with McGonagall and the weekly run with Dana and Ginny, she her feeling of barely controlled panic was still with her wherever she went as time seemed to suddenly speed up as the first task got closer.

On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. It was going to be the first time the twins could visit the village freely, without having to hide under Harry's cloak.

"I'm so glad we're finally able to go together!" Padma said happily during breakfast. "Even Luna and Ginny will be there."

"Yeah, that's going to be fun." Rohini said with a tired smile; she was barely able to sleep lately, waking up every night after having a terrible nightmare about the tournament.

Spending some time with all their friends obviously did some good to the twins. Even Malfoy's badges didn't waste Rohini's merrier mood for she had gotten used to the sight of them anyway. She was thankful however that Harry brought their father's Invisibility Cloak with him just in case for they almost bumped into Rita Skeeter.

Rohini had been ready to hex her and Padma pushed her into _The Three Broomstick_ to avoid a complete disaster. The pub was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people they rarely saw anywhere else.

Every table were taken already and so they had to sit with Fred, George and Lee Jordan who seemed delighted to have Rohini by their side. Less enthusiastic about talking about the tournament than the playful trio, Rohini tried to figure out another topic and was saved by Hermione who pulled out a notebook out of her bag in which she had been keeping a record of S.P.E.W. members.

"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved in _S.P.E.W_." Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around the pub.

Nobody answered her, taking a long sip of their own beverage and looking away with an innocent face.

"Hermione, when are you going to give up on this spew stuff?" Harry finally dared to ask.

"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!" she hissed back. "You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"

"No idea." said Harry.

"It's our time to shine!" Fred and George said happily before explaining them how to actually get to the kitchen without being caught.

"Look, it's Hagrid!" said Luna suddenly, saving them from listening to Hermione's heated debate with Ron about Dobby's exceptional case.

The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head - he had mercifully abandoned his bunches -emerged over the crowd.

Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. He had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip flask.

Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead.

Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup.

Suddenly, the two of them stood up and joined the group of friends at their own table.

"Hello, ya' all." Hagrid said with a smile. "How are ya' feelin', Rohini? Excited?"

"Terrified." Rohini admitted. "Can't get much sleep at all."

"Good." Moody muttered. "Nothin' like fear to keep you on your guards. Will come in handy, you'll see. Fear, and an Invisibility cloak." He added low enough for just the twins to hear him.

Harry and Rohini exchanged a surprised glance; not many people knew about the cloak and they had never expected Moody to know about it.

"Rohini, there's somethin' I need to show ya'." Hagrid said, leaning closer to Rohini for he knew she was slightly deaf, "Meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak."

"Ok." Rohini said, suddenly nervous. What could be that important for Hagrid to want her out so late? Then, she remembered that she was supposed to meet up with Sirius and she hoped it wouldn't delay the meeting.

Before leaving the village, Rohini decided to buy a bottle of Butterbeer to bring back for Dana, not knowing if the girl had ever tried it before. Dana had been delighted by the unexpected gift, giving Rohini a little peek on the cheek that made her feel like she was floating like a bubble.

At half past eleven that evening, Harry came to pick her up at the bottom of the Ravenclaw Tower and the two of them hide under the Invisibility Cloak and with the Marauders Map in one hand, made their way out of the castle.

The grounds were very dark. The twins walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; they could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as Harry knocked on Hagrid's front door.

"You there, Rohini?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around. Harry pulled out the cloak down off their heads. "Oh, hi Harry! I should have guessed ya'll be here, too."

"What's up?" Rohini said.

"Got summat ter show yeh." said Hagrid, beaming.

There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair; Rohini could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.

"Huuuh…" She said, trying not to stare. "You look… great, Hagrid." Hagrid giggled.

"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerselfs covered with that cloak," he then said. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it. . ."

"We can't stay for too long." Rohini warned him as Harry pulled back the cloak over them.

To the twins' great surprise, Hagrid was leading them to the Beauxbatons carriage.

"What on earth is he doing?" Rohini whispered to Harry who shrugged, looking equally confused.

"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.

Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.

"Ah, 'Agrid . . . it is time?"

"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps. Rohini wondered if he was perhaps trying to greet Madame Maxime in French.

Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Rohini and Harry, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them.

After a while Madame Maxime said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

"Beurk." Harry said and Rohini elbowed him.

Then - when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight - Harry heard something and frowned. Rohini heard nothing at first due to her deaf ear. Then, she thought she heard men shouting up ahead.

And suddenly, they heard something _roar_.

Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Rohini had stopped on spot from the shock and Harry pushed her forward as they both hurried up alongside them.

Something bright was shining in front of them and for a split second, they thought they were seeing bonfires, and men darting around them. Then, the things moved and roared again and Rohini was glad that Harry was still holding her for she might have fainted on the spot.

 _Dragons_. The thing Hagrid wanted to show them with such enthusiasm was dragons.

Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting - torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks.

There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard-hike than the others, which was nearest to them.

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs.

Mesmerized and equally as terrified, Rohini looked up, high above them, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, it was quite hard to tell.

"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.

"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"

Rohini saw each of the dragon keepers pull out their wand and she took a step back.

"Stupefy!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides – They watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking - then, very slowly, it fell.

Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Rohini could have sworn made the trees behind her quake.

"Oh my gosh." Rohini breathed, eyes opened wide.

The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and the twins followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and they realized who it was: Charlie Weasley.

"That's why he said we might meet sooner than expected, back to the station!" Rohini realised.

"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now - we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all -"

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something close to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Rohini could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid and though she was terrified, she couldn't help but stare into them with an odd fascination.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one - a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray - and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.

"Double Beurk." Harry said and Rohini elbowed him again.

"To each their own tastes." She reminded him.

"Four. . ." said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why… but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Rohini saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches. For the split of a terrifying second, she pictured herself being stabbed by one of the nasty spike and shivered. Harry's grip tightened around her arm.

Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly. Then he said, "How's Rohini?"

"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.

"Just hope she's still fine after she's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what she's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about her." Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice.

"'How could they let her enter that tournament, she's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about her; she never knew Rohini could possibly be jealous of Harry-"

"Let's go." Rohini suddenly said and Harry followed as she walked away, back to the castle.

"Dragons." She said quietly before repeating "Dragons!"

"Well, at least you know what's coming up." Harry said, though he didn't look so happy about it.

"Harry, I will only have my wand to fight a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon! A wand made of wood! Wood that can probably burn! I'm so screwed."

"We still have a few days to think about a solution." Harry tried to reassure her. "Maybe Sirius will be able to help?"

"Let's hope so." Rohini said grimly, and none of the twins spoke until they passed next to a familiar silhouette- Karkaroff.

"Guess Krum will know about the dragons, too." Rohini said as they watched him walk fast towards the forest. "I wonder if someone told Cedric."

"No idea…" Harry said with a frown. "Fleur will know about it too, since Madame Maxime saw them…"

"That's not fair." Rohini muttered with a frown.

They finally reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs.

"Balderdash!" Harry gasped at the Fat Lady as Rohini remained hidden under the cloak.

"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit him. They both climbed inside. The common room was deserted at this time.

"It's quite different from our own Common Room." Rohini noticed as they sat in an armchair in front of the fire.

The room was in semi-darkness; the flames were the only source of light, and there was also no particular flames or sound around.

"Woah!" Rohini suddenly yelled, not believing her eyes for a moment.

Sirius's head was now sitting in the fire, beaming. If the twins hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do exactly this back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared them out of their wits.

"Sirius!" Harry said with a wide smile as he scrambled out of his chair, crouched down by the hearth, and said, "Sirius - how're you doing?" Rohini kneeled next to her brother with a relieved grin on her face; Sirius looked different now.

When they had said good-bye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair - but the hair was tamed and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.

"Never mind me, how are you?" asked Sirius, looking from one twin to another.

"Fine." Harry said.

"Awful." Rohini sighed.

Then, both of them began to talk at the same time, "Dangerous" and "Dragons" being recurrent words.

"It's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner." Rohini groaned desperately.

Sirius looked at her, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look.

"Dragons we can deal with, I promise, but we'll get to that in a minute - I haven't got long here… I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you two about."

"Worse than dragons? Can't really see what." Rohini muttered and it was Harry's turn to elbow her.

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "He was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"What?!" The twins said in unison, shocked.

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year - to keep an eye on him. 't was Moody who caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly, "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named other followers... he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place."

"I can't believe it." Rohini said, disgusted. Sirius laughed bitterly.

"He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"Are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet-"

"- you and the rest of the world," said Rohini bitterly.

"- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

Sirius then hesitated.

"I've also been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark... and then - did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" said Harry.

"I've heard Padma's mother talk about it." Rohini said with a nod.

"Exactly... she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumoured to be last. She would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she? I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So. . . so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry, exchanging a grim look with Rohini. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know...Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put Rohini's name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack her and make it look like an accident."

Harry said nothing.

"They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff, then." Rohini mumbled.

"Right - these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Rohini. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon -"

"Yeah, we just saw," said Harry.

"You can still do it alone," said Sirius. "There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just -"

But Harry held up a hand to silence him; they could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind him.

"Go!" he hissed at Sirius. " Go! There's someone coming!"

Harry scrambled to his feet, hiding the fire as Rohini covered herself with the Invisibility Cloak again. They heard a tiny pop! in the fire behind them and knew Sirius had gone.

The twins grunted in unison as they Ron appeared in his maroon paisley pajamas, yawning loudly.

"Who were you talking to?" he said.

"Damnit, Ron!" Rohini said, pushing the cloak off her face. Ron yelped, probably not expecting to see her floating face at such an hour. "Sirius was ready to tell me how to deal with Dragons!"

"Sirius? Dragons?" Ron repeated, looking at her as if she had been growing a second head. "What are you talking about?"

"Harry will tell you, I'm sure." Rohini said shortly. "I'm off to bed. Need some rest, to find a way to deal with Dragons without being killed by myself."

"Goodnight, I guess." Ron said, obviously crossed by Rohini's attitude.

"Bye." Harry said and Rohini waved at him before disappearing by the portrait hole.

Padma was asleep when she finally reached the girls dorm, and Rohini didn't have the heart to wake her up and tell her about the grim reality of the tournament's first task. Unable to fall asleep, Rohini hugged Thranduil tightly until the need to burst in anxious tears left, and then she picked up the Marauders' journal, desperate to find a useful trick.

But nothing helped, and Rohini felt like she had been pushed down an endless pit with no chance to see the light again.


	14. Chapter 14

It was a good thing Dana had cancelled their morning run the previous day because of a cold. With their free morning, Ginny and Rohini were able to meet up with their friends.

When they learned the truth about the first task after breakfast, Rohini feared they'd get a heart attack as they stared at the twins in shock for the first two minutes. Then, they all began to talk at the same time, their range of emotions varying from extremely worried about Rohini's safety to being furious at the judges for coming up with such an impossible task.

"Dragons!" Padma was still saying one hour later, as they all sat in an empty classroom they had locked behind them. "Dragons!"

"Relax," Ginny told her, "Charlie works with dragons every day and he's still in one piece."

"But Charlie is a competent, well trained adult and he's part of a team." Hermione pointed out. "We need to go to the library and look for the spell Sirius was ready to tell you."

"No, we can't do that." Rohini said grimly. "Since both Fleur and Krum have probably heard about it by now, it would be suspicious if we, too, go to the library and read every book about dragons."

"She's got a point." Ron said. He was obviously feeling guilty for accidentally making Sirius go away last night and have been trying the hardest to come up with a solution. "Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, because there's some kind of bloody ancient magic in their thick hides."

"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," said Harry as he and Ginny went through their Charm book while Hermione read some passage of her Transfiguration book. As for Rohini, she tried to see if there was anything helpful in Luna's _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_.

"Well, there are Switching Spells…" Hermione was mumbling with a concentrate frown, "but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous… The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide."

"I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope." Padma sighed. "Same with giving yourself extra powers; But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class… or did you learn anything useful with Professor McGonagall?"

"Not that I can think of, right now." Rohini sighed.

They stayed like this until lunch, exchanging a few ideas from time to time. Rohini was feeling slightly nauseous again, the memory of the Hungarian Horntails stuck in her mind.

"We should go eat something." Luna suddenly said, breaking the heavy silence. "Dad always says that you can't think properly with an empty stomach."

"I'm with your dad." Ron said, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn.

As they headed to the Great Hall, Rohini caught sight of Cedric and Cho Chang talking with their group of friends. Judging by his beaming face, he probably had no idea of what was waiting for them on Tuesday.

Rohini bite her lips. Some could be tempted to keep it to themselves; after all, Cedric gone, there would be only two champions left to defeat. But it didn't feel fair at all, especially since Cedric wasn't a bad person.

"I'll join you in two minutes, need to do something first." She told her brother and friends before running towards the group of older students. As soon as they saw her, they all lost their smile and threw her nasty glances, which made Rohini hesitate; maybe she should wait for Cedric to be alone before thinking of talking to him.

But she couldn't back up, now; already Cedric was looking at her with a confused expression and a polite smile.

"I-huh…" Rohini began, dancing from one feet to another. Probably sensing that she was quite intimidated, Cedric told his friend to go to the Great Hall without him. The Hufflepuffs glanced at Rohini suspiciously, probably wondering if she was going to attack Cedric while they were gone, before leaving the two champions alone.

Feeling better, Rohini thanked Cedric before trying to figure out how to tell him the truth. Cedric politely wait for her to find her words, and she was grateful for that.

"Listen, I know it's going to sound a bit crazy, and maybe you will not believe me, but I still feel like it's only fair for you to know- the first task. It's gonna be dragons."

"What?" Cedric asked, frowning.

"I know, sounds crazy right?" Rohini laughed nervously. "But yeah, dragons. I saw them, and so did Karkaroff and Madame Maxime. Which means, you were the only one not knowing about them, so I thought it was only fair to let you know."

"Dragons…" Cedric whispered, looking troubled. He then looked into Rohini's eyes, probably trying to decide if she was telling the truth or not. It made Rohini feel uncomfortable, but she didn't look away for she wanted Diggory to trust her.

"So…yeah." Rohini finally said, breaking the awkward silence. Cedric gave her a little smile.

"Thanks for telling me. Better be prepared, lie or not."

"That's the spirit." Rohini said, smiling back with a nervous chuckle.

"Your friends are waiting for you, too, right? Let's not worry them." Cedric said and they walked side by side towards the Great Hall.

"You know, about the badges…" Cedric said, looking bothered. "I told the rest of the Hufflepuffs to stop wearing them. I really did."

"It's ok." Rohini assured him. "It doesn't bother me anymore. You're the real Hogwarts Champion, after all."

"Hmmm." Cedric hummed as they reached the open gates. "Well, thanks again for telling me. That was very fair play of you."

"No problem." Rohini assured him before parting way with him as she sat between Padma and Luna.

"Did you tell him about the task?" Padma asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, it felt like the right thing to do." Rohini said.

"Good." Padma said with a smile, looking at Rohini proudly. "I would have been disappointed if you hadn't."

After lunch, they met up with Harry and their friends again and decided to go for a walk around the lake, hoping that some fresh air might inspire them.

"I know!" Rohini suddenly said. "Harry, I could use dad's cloak! A little Accio spell, and hop! I can go unseen!"

"No way." Harry refused flatly. "Everybody will know about the cloak if you use it; we'll never be able to use it freely after that."

"Thanks for your support." Rohini grumbled. "Maybe I could use the The Melofors Jinx, just like I did with the Troll, back in first year?"

"I doubt it would be as efficient on a dragon." Hermione pointed out. "I mean, it could probably break the pumpkin easily…"

"What you need is a distraction." Ginny said. "If you can't fight it by the front, then you need to kick its bum."

"Ginny's right." Harry said and Ginny's cheeks turned slightly red as she smiled at him.

"A distraction, a distraction, a distraction…" Ron mumbled before yelling as something exploded a few steps away.

Raising their head, they saw Fred, George and Lee Jordan laughing and pointing at each other's hair, now all burned from whatever they had just make explode.

"Look at them, the Distraction Kings." Rohini said with a laugh. "Maybe I should ask them, instead."

"Rohini, that's bloody brilliant!" Ron suddenly said, clapping his fingers. "That's it, that's the solution!"

"Huh…" Everybody said, looking at him in confusion. Ron looked quite excited.

"Think about it! You talked about using Accio earlier, right?" He said to Rohini.

"Yeah, but Harry doesn't want me to use the cloak." Rohini pointed out. Ron shook his head.

"I'm not talking about the cloak; I'm talking about Fred and George!"

"You want her to use them as a bait?" Harry asked, confused. Ron groaned in frustration.

"Of course not! Blimey, can't you see it? Their tricks! If you can summon them, then you can use them against the dragon!"

"Oh!" They all gasped.

"I thought your mum threw away everything?" Hermione asked. Ron and Ginny exchanged a knowing smile.

"Everything she could find at home, yes; but she didn't know half their stock was kept well safe at Lee's place." Ginny explained.

"That's… that's the craziest plan I've heard today." Rohini said, before smiling at Ron. "And also my favourite one. If this works, then I might be able to distract that godamn dragon!"

"Good thinking, Ron." Luna said, beaming and Ron turned crimson.

"'Not really…" He mumbled and Rohini nudged at him.

"Come on, your idea might save my life, on Tuesday. I still need to beat up the dragon, but that's a start!"

Ron smiled and catching Harry and Rohini's arms, the little group of friends walked back to the castle, merrier than when they left it.

As they reached the doors, they spotted Dana talking to two other Durmstrang students and she waved at them with a bright smile on her face, which seemed to bother her friends for one of them elbowed her and whispered something at her.

"Guess not everyone wants to befriend the enemy school…" Padma said.

"I wouldn't mind befriending Krum- no offense, Rohini." Ron said.

"None taken." Rohini assured him. "I bet he is a really kind boy, deep, deep inside…"

"Or just a real idiot." Hermione said, still resentful for Krum's fangirls being too noisy while spying on him in the library. Ron and Harry looked at her as if she had just said something extremely obscene.

Though Sundays were usually peaceful at the castle, it wasn't the case of today, for everybody was growing more and more excited about the First Task and trying to figure out what it might consist of. The closest hypothesis had been from Colin Creevey's who was convinced the champions will have to fight giant Blast-Ended Skrewt.

"Do you want to practice your summoning spell, then?" Padma asked as she, Luna and Rohini tried to find some peace in the Ravenclaw girls' dorm.

"Sure." Rohini agreed; she already knew that she had no problem with summoning items (Professor McGonagall had even praised her about it which was something quite hard to achieve). "Can we practice Protegio, after that?"

"Anything you want, champion." Padma said, light hearted; Ron's idea seemed to have improved her mood and Rohini was glad about it; she hated to see her friend worrying about her well-being.

They ended up taking turn, Padma and Luna decided to learn how to use the defensive spell, too. For a while, Rohini forgot about her panicked state and even fully enjoyed dinner for the first time in weeks.

Her mood turned sour again the next morning though, after she woke up at dawn from a terrific nightmare; she had been facing the Hungarian Horntail while everybody pointed and booed at her. As she tried to use the Summoning spell, the dragon had burn her wand and crushed her under its large tail.

Petting Thranduil as she waited for Padma to wake up, Rohini tried to convince herself that it was just a nightmare, that she knew that both the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws would be rooting for her, and that they would hopefully not let her be killed by the beast.

If time had seemed to froze since her name had been called, Rohini found herself waking up on Tuesday morning with no idea about what had happened the next day; did she go to classes? Did she finish her homework? Did she even eat?

The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.

Breakfast went quietly at the Ravenclaw table, everybody either glancing nervously at Rohini or whispering little "good luck" or tips to her. Through the heavy mist that seemed to be invading her mind, Rohini noticed that Cho Chang kept glancing from Cedric to Rohini, looking paler than usual; Diggory had probably told her about the dragons, then.

She was about to stand up to go to her Charm lesson when someone passed an arm around her neck.

"Ready to shine, my little knight?" said a teasing voice.

"Dana!" Rohini said, surprised. "You scared me!"

"My bad." Dana said with a laugh. Then, she looked at Padma and Luna. "Hello there. Don't think I have introduced myself properly yet; I'm Dana, nice to meet you."

"Pleasure." The girls said.

"Did you come to show me your support?" Rohini asked, half joking and Dana smile's grew bigger as she looked for something in her pocket before handing up a little golden earring with a fang to Rohini.

"It's a good luck charm." Dana explained. "I saw that you had pierced ears, last time."

"Oh." Rohini said, feeling her cheeks getting warmer. "Are you sure it's ok for me to have it?"

"Certain." Dana said. "Don't want something bad to happen to you, do we?" She asked Padma and Luna.

"Of course not." Luna said with a smile before taking off one of her ladybug earing. "Maybe a second one would bring you luck." She said and Rohini tried not to imagine how funny she would look wearing such different kind of earrings.

"As the French would say, ' _jamais deux sans trois_.'" Padma said with a thick accent before taking off her "P" pendant and putting it around Rohini's neck. "Here. You look ridiculous." She said and the girls laughed before Dana took her leave.

"I've misjudged her." Padma admitted at the end of their History of Magic lesson, the last one before the task. "Dana, I mean. She's a really nice girl."

"And so are you." Rohini said, her fingers brushing against Padma's hand without taking it.

Padma smiled, and was the one grabbing Rohini's hand as they headed outside to eat the brioches and _pains au chocolat_ they had taken during breakfast. (Rohini didn't feel like eating with everybody staring at her for lunch).

They were joined later by their friends who brought them a sandwich to complete their odd meal.

"You're sure you remember the names of what you want to summon, right?" Hermione asked for the hundredth time."

"Yes, Hermione, I do." Rohini said shortly. "There's the Ton-Tongue Toffees, the Trick Wands and their latest Silver Sparkling Snakes."

"Good." Hermione said with a nod.

"Oh no…" Padma said and they all turned their head to see Professor Flitwick running towards them.

He was wearing his prettiest robes today, probably because he was the Head of the Ravenclaw House.

"Ah, Miss Potter!" He said with his mousy voice and slightly out of breath, "Here you are! Hello, Miss Patil, Miss Lovegood." He added before nodding at the Gryffindors.

"Is it… Is it time?" Rohini asked, feeling her throat tightened. She felt Harry tensed by her side and for a moment, it looked as if he was going to grab her hand and run away with her.

"I'm afraid so." Professor Flitwick said. "The champions have to come down onto the grounds now... The three others have already left for the arena…"

"Ok." Rohini said with a nod as she stood up. She forced a smile on her lips as she gave one last look to her friends, who were now looking quite blemish. "See you after the task."

"Good luck." They all said. Harry hesitated before taking a step forward and giving Rohini a strong but brief hug.

"You will do great." He said and Rohini nodded before following Professor Flitwick who put a reassuring hand on her arm, for he was too short to reach her shoulder.

"I know it might be scary for you," He said after a moment, "but I have heard from Minerva that you were doing quite well with your private lessons… Of course, you're still quite young next to the other champions, and I'm not saying the task waiting for you will be easy to manage, but we've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand. . . . The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you!"

"Thanks, Professor." Rohini said, fidgeting Padma's necklace.

They were now walking toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Rohini saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.

"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor Flitwick, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turn, Miss Potter. I have to leave, only the judges are allowed inside- just believe in yourself, and you will do great! I believe in you, Miss Potter. Good luck!"

"Thanks." Rohini mumbled. As she stood up alone, she could swear she heard him shouted "Just believe in yourself!" once more before silence fell again.

"Well, here comes nothing." Rohini said before entering the tent.

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a how wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Rohini supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Rohini came in, Cedric gave her a small smile, which Rohini returned, feeling the muscles in her face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it.

"Rohini! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him. "Come in, come in, and make yourself at home!"

Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again.

"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see."

The picture of the four dragons flashed into Rohini's mind.

"And I have to tell you something else too.. . ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"

' _So that's why they asked for mothers…_ ' Rohini thought, remembering Charlie's words to Hagrid and the huge eggs. Rohini shivered; it was well known that most species were extremely protective of their eggs, and could turn into quite the fury if someone tried to steal them…

In no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking and unaware of the perils waiting for the champions.

Once the noisy crowd had passed, Bagman opened the neck of the purple silk sack.

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour. Rohini found it slightly unfair; she was also a girl, the youngest champions, and the one who hadn't enter the tournament willingly; wouldn't it be more logical to let her pick first?

Fleur put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck And Rohini knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that she had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.

Bagman turned to Rohini, beaming.

"Your turn, Rohini."

Rohini put her hand into the silk bag, trying to feel the less spiky dragon but something bite her fingers and as Rohini jerked off with a yelp, the Hungarian Horntail followed, the number four around its neck.

It stretched its wings as she looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs. Rohini felt like her soul was leaving her body; Weasley tricks or not, she was going to face the most murderous beasts of the four.

Krum pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.

Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck.

"Rotten luck." He whispered to Rohini with a glance at her dragon. Rohini didn't even reacted to that.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now, Rohini, I'd like a word please."

"Huh." said Rohini blankly as she got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked her a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to her with a fatherly expression on his face.

"Feeling all right, girl? Anything I can get you?"

"Well, you could get me the right to forfeit." Rohini said and Bagman laughed, as if she had told the funniest joke ever.

"Got a plan?" said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here-"

"No thank you." Rohini said shortly. "I might be the underdog as you said, but I'm not a cheater."

A whistle had blown somewhere.

"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.

Rohini walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Rohini tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of her mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt and so she just gave him a little wave.

Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his model.

It was worse than Rohini could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed, yelled, gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground, his mini-dragon now asleep on his shoulder, apparently taking the fur of his cape for a nest.

Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse… Horrible pictures formed in Rohini's mind as she heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow- he's taking risks, this one!-Clever move - pity it didn't work!"

And then, after about fifteen minutes, Rohini heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"

But he didn't shout out the marks; Rohini supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur was trembling from head to foot.

"Good luck." Rohini whispered to her as she left. Fleur nodded in acknowledgment and left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. Rohini and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.

The same process started again. "Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh. . . nearly! Careful now. . . good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

Ten minutes later, the two of them heard the crowd erupt into applause once more; Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown, then, for the third time, the whistle.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Rohini quite alone.

She felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way her heart was pumping fast, and her fingers tingling with fear, aware of her muscled but short legs, aware of how tiny she would look next to the Hungarian Horntail.

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Rohini heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"

Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished - it would be Rohini's turn any moment.

She stood up, noticing dimly that her legs seemed to be suddenly made of marshmallow and waited.

And then she heard the whistle blow. Gulping and clenching her wand, Rohini walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside her. And now she was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.

For the split of a second, Rohini felt like running away; there were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at her from stands that had been magicked there since she'd last stood on this spot. An eerie silence had followed as she entered the arena, made of huge stones that felt hot under her feet, even if she was wearing shoes.

 _Bump bump. Bump Bump. Bump Bump_.

Rohini could only hear the blood pumping in her ears, felt her skin getting covered by a cold sweat and glistening.

And then-

And then there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon Rohini.

She looked like a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. Then, the beast roared loudly and the crowd began to make great deal of noise.

Rohini closed her eyes for a second, tried to empty her mind of all fear, and then looked at the beast with a desperate kind determination. Willing to or not, she had a task to pass.

But she wasn't the only one with a purpose; the dragon did too and before Rohini could cast any spell, it stood up and breathed a brazier towards Rohini, who barely had time to take cover behind a large rock.

She gulped at the unbearable heat and tried not to picture what would have been left of her if she hadn't hide in time.

"Accio Ton-Tongue Toffees!" She said and, to her surprise, didn't have to wait for too long before the candies landed in her palms; it looked like The Weasley Twins might have planned to sell some during the task. She would have to pay for them later, then.

Glancing at the dragon, Rohini tried to come up with a plan; running straight forward would be the worst plan ever, but if she took cover behind the largest rocks…

"Accio, Trick Wands!" She then called, but only one fake wand came to her, this time; the rest must have been left at the castle, and she had no time to lose waiting for them to arrive.

Touching Padma's necklace one last time, Rohini finally jumped out of her hiding place and began to run. The crowd shouted, Bagman was commentating excitingly but Rohini didn't listen, couldn't listen; she took a sharp turn and jumped behind another rock as the dragon tried to roast her like brunch sausages once more.

Her hair was sticking to her forehead now and Rohini wished she had thought to tie them up first; maybe she should get them cut before the second task.

The Hungarian roared again, a terrific roar that echoed through her whole body. Pushing her hair away, Rohini took a sprinting position before jumping forwards; for a moment, she felt as if she was back to Private Drive, trying to escape Dudley and his gang.

Doing a surprisingly graceful move to hide into a hole in the ground large enough to hide her, Rohini grabbed the Trick Wand and waved it; instantly, the wand turned into one of those baby toys that made dreadful noises.

"Engorgio!" She said, and the toy –shaped like a chicken- was now the size of Hagrid's pumpkin but thankfully just as light as an ant. Peaking at the dragon, Rohini crossed her fingers before casting Leviosa and throwing the chicken as far as possible before it crashed a few feet away from the dragon with a " _PfiuuUUuuuuuuuuuh_!" sound.

The dragon instantly tried to crush it under one of her large paws, but it only made it squeeze loudly. Rohini jumped out of the hole and began to run towards the nest; she was getting quite close now, thanks to her speed.

But if Rohini had focused on the dragon's head, she had forgotten the tail; she was suddenly hit hard in the stomach and air left her lungs painfully as she grabbed one of the dragon's spikes to avoid falling from the swooping tail.

The ferocious beast roared once more and turned her head towards Rohini, showing her fangs. Fearing to be eaten alive, Rohini tried to clumsily catch the Ton-Tongue Toffees in her pocket and threw them all into the Horntail's open mouth.

"Woah!" Rohini gasped as she almost let go of her grip, the Horntail whipping the air furiously with her tail as her tongue began to swell, making it impossible for her to close her powerful jaw or breathe fire.

Rohini's palms were all sweaty and she yelped as her hands slipped and she hit the ground hard with a crack. Grunting, she barely had the time to stand up that the Horntail tried to hit her with her spiky tail again and Rohini barely avoided the collision.

Looking up, she realised that she had landed right to the eggs and began to run for it. She could hear the dragon's muffled roar as her tongue was still getting longer and longer, she felt her heart miss a beat every time she avoided getting crushed under the tail- and suddenly, Rohini dive and grabbed the golden egg before rolling behind a large rock.

It was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up - for the first time, she became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding louder than during a Quidditch Match.

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get her egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mrs. Potter!"

Rohini dared to glance at the dragon and saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid hurrying to meet her, all of them waving her toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance.

Standing up on her sore legs, Rohini walked slow at first before feeling the impulse to sprint and jump into Hagrid's open arms, the tension finally releasing as she broke into a laugh.

"I did it!" She yelled, relieved tears in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, I did it! I- I'm alive! I got the egg! Hagrid, I got the egg!"

"Told ye that ye could do it!" Hagrid said, beaming. "An' agains' the Horntail an' all!"

"Your knees are bleeding." Professor Flitwick realised. "Oh, and you have a nasty bruise on your face already, must be from the fall- You should go and see Madam Pomfrey before the score."

"Come." Hagrid said, leading her to another tent.

Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.

"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Rohini inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; she could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least.

Madam Pomfrey examined Rohini's face and knees and touched her back to make sure she broke no bones while talking furiously all the while.

"Last year Dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky you didn't get badly hurt…"

She cleaned up Rohini's scratches and put some thick, stinky balm on her bruises before agreeing to let her go.

Rohini got to her feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before she'd reached the mouth of the tent, a group of people stepped it; it was Harry and their friends, all speaking and hugging her at the same time.

"That was brilliant!" Fred said, starts in their eyes.

"You did us quite the advertising for our products!" George laughed. "I would have never thought our Toffees could have made a dragon's tongue swell that much!"

"You did great!" Harry said, looking at her with a proud smile.

"It was all thanks to Ron." Rohini said before hugging her friend. "You're the best."

"To the Weasleys!" The twins shouted and they all laughed before Madam Pomfrey furiously chased them out of the tent.

"I was so scared for you." Padma said, refusing to let go of Rohini's hand. "When the dragon breathed fire the first time, I really thought- but you're alright now, that's all that matter." Padma said with a smile.

"c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores!" Ginny said.

"So, what did the others do?" Rohini asked, curious.

"Cedric did this weird thing where he transfigured a rock on the ground and turned it into a dog." Harry explained.

"Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away." Ron continued.

"Fleur tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance - well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand." Said Ginny.

"And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them." Ron finished.

They had all now reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Rohini could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Luna said, and Rohini squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said Fred as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your landing."

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Wow." Rohini said, impressed; she would have expected Mr. Crouch to be the hardest judge, somehow.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.

"You deserve it." Harry said, a hand on Rohini's shoulder.

Ludo Bagman - ten.

"Why?" Rohini asked, confused. "I wasn't _that_ great-"

"Shhhh!" Her friends shushed her.

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four.

"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!"

Though slightly offended by the mark, Rohini didn't care as much as the Weasley sibblings who were shaking their fists at Karkaroff.

"You're tied in first place, Rohini! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes-Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

"Thanks, Charlie." Rohini said before telling her friends that she would meet them up later.

Then she re-entered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. She thought back to how she'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before she'd walked out to face it. There was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse.

Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Rohini when he saw her.

"Good one, Rohini."

"Thanks, you too." Rohini said, feeling much more lighter.

"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open. . . see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg -because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"

Rohini left the tent, staring at her egg and met up with her friends again. they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Rohini wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Rohini had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.

It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.

"Congratulations, Rohini!" she said, beaming at her. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"

"Yeah, you can even have three." Rohini said shorty. "Go to hell."

And she set off back to the castle with her friends laughing and booing at Rita. As they passed next to the lake, they saw Dana running toward them and Rohini gasped when the strong girl grabbed her by the waist and carried her with a laugh.

"Congrats, little saviour!" She said, eyes shining and beaming. "It was quite the dragon that you faced, back there! I wish I had known beforehand what the task was about, I have so many notes about this specie-"Dana began to ramble and Rohini snorted before taking her hand.

"Here, for you." She said as she gave Dana the tiny Hungarian Horntail she had picked up. It was now asleep, snoring little flames from time to time. "I think it would be happier with someone who knows about dragons."

Dana's eyes opened comically as she stared in awe at the creature, making everybody laugh.

On this instant, all the fear and anger from the past few weeks were forgotten, replaced by a strong feeling of security and merriness.


	15. Chapter 15

The aftermath of the first task was pretty blurry in Rohini's mind; she could recall that people from all Houses –even a few Slytherins- had surrounded her while singing her name, some shaking her hands or giving her a friendly slap in the back with a "congratulation, champion!"

She also remembered how a few Gryffindors sneaked inside the Ravenclaw common room to improvise a little party in her honour. Rohini, too happy to be have survive and even managed to be on an equal foot with Krum, had put her social anxiety aside for the evening, blushing and laughing with everybody, Padma and Harry never leaving her side.

The next morning had been difficult for they hadn't sleep much, but Rohini caught up with her lack of sleep by taking a nap during Divination. To her pleasure, nobody was wearing the "Potter stinks!" Badges anymore except from Malfoy and his gang.

"Mum and dad will be delighted to hear you're ok, though I'm sure mum have already heard about it." Padma said.

"I just hope nobody will tell the details to Mrs. Weasley." Rohini said with a grin and the girls laughed lightly.

"Maybe it will change her mind, knowing that they saved your life?"

"Hope so." Rohini said, pushing her hair away. "Damn it, I really should cut them before the second task! But I don't like cutting them myself…"

"Just tie them up until summer." Padma shrugged, going through her bag before handing one of her hair ties to Rohini; it was silver with a blue pearl.

"Ravenclaw pride?" Rohini asked with a twinkle in her eyes and Padma rolled her eyes with a huff. "Well, I have Ancient Runes right now. See you in Charms!"

"See you!" Padma said with a wave as she headed back to the Ravenclaw Tower to finish a Potions essay.

Ancient Runes was an extremely interesting subject unlike what most people thought, and was made of only five students, Rohini included.

Already sitting at the front table was Hermione and Rohini took place next to her, noticing that her friend's hair looked more brushy than usual, as if she had pull on them. She was also looking extremely irritated and Rohini figured out what was wrong.

"Krum?" She said, glancing around to make sure nobody was listening. A Hufflepuff boy gave her a thumb up and Rohini smiled back awkwardly before looking back at Hermione who tapped her fingers angrily against the desk.

"I can't bear it anymore! Every time I'm trying to study, he has to be here, too! And of course, his stupid fan club has to follow him around, making those stupid gushing noises and asking for his autograph!"

"Chill, Hermione." Rohini said, patting her friend's arm. "I'm sure he isn't aware that he's being a bother. Maybe you should, I don't know, hex those guys if they get too close? I'm sure he might even be grateful for that." Rohini joked and Hermione's lips twitched.

"Shush." She said as their teacher arrived and the lesson began.

The rest of the day went well for Rohini, to the point she forgot about the Golden Egg until bedtime, when the girls finally got ready for a proper night of sleep and Rohini hold it curiously, sitting on Padma's bed with Luna.

"I wonder what you're supposed to do with it…" Padma said, poking the strange egg.

"Not sure… do you know any animals that come out of golden eggs? Maybe I'll have to defeat whatever hatch from this for the second task." Rohini suggested, though she wasn't very fond of this idea; she had fought enough dragons for a lifetime, thank you very much.

"There's a groove, so you should try to open it." Luna suggested. Rohini turned to Padma and handed her the egg.

"Can you open it for me? I bite my nails so they are too short." Rohini explained and Padma nodded before digging her fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it, prising it open.

It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment Padma opened it, the most horrible noise -a loud and screechy wailing- filled the room, like a victim in a horror movie that Dudley watched sometimes.

The rest of the dorm ran into the bedroom, looking around with their wand in their hand, probably thinking someone was being murdered.

"Shut it!" Rohini screamed to Padma, covering her ears with her hands.

"What the heck was that?" Penelope Clearwater said slowly, one hand on her chest as if her heart was beating too fast from the shock.

"I have honestly no idea." Rohini said, staring at the egg and losing her merry mood; what kind of clue was that supposed to be?

"Well, one thing is sure." Padma said later, as everybody went back to their beds. "You better get ready to protect your ears; you might have to fight a banshee."

"Thanks for the tip, Padma." Rohini mumbled, already half asleep.

The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts, and everybody wished their uniform had the same warm fur on it as the Durmstrang' crimson ones, though they were glad of the castle's fires and thick walls every time they passed the ghostly ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies.

Rohini had asked Dana if it was as cold as what it looked like inside, and the girl explained that it was only an illusion, set by Karkaroff to keep the two other schools at bay; the inside was actually fashioned in a Gothic, Victorian way so that the best students –or rather, Krum- were left satisfied.

Rohini might love Care of Magical Creatures classes, but she was less enthusiastic about them lately; Hagrid was keeping Madame Maxime's horses well provided with their preferred drink of single-malt whiskey and the fumes wafting from the trough in the comer of their paddock was enough to make the entire class light-headed.

This was unhelpful, as they were still tending the horrible skrewts and needed their wits about them.

"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes."

There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them. Each of them was now approaching six feet in length.

Their thick gray armor; their powerful, scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings and their suckers, combined to make the skrewts the most repulsive things Rohini had ever seen; it was almost as scary as an Hungarian Horntail –at least, the dragon was majestic and a stunning creature.

The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.

"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."

But the skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don panic, now, don' panic!" while the skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering wreckage of the boxes.

Most of the class had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in; Rohini, Padma and Zach were among those who remained outside trying to help Hagrid. Together they managed to restrain and tie up nine of the skrewts, though at the cost of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt was left.

"Don' frighten him, now!" Hagrid shouted as Rohini walked toward the creature with her hand on her wand. "Jus' try an slip the rope 'round his sting, so he won hurt any o' the others!"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that." Rohini heard Zach mumbled as he checked a burn on his hand.

"Well, well, well. . . this does look like fun."

Rohini took a deep breath and clenched her fists. _Great_.

Rita Skeeter was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm.

Hagrid launched himself forward on top of the skrewt and flattened it; a blast of fire shot out of its end, withering the pumpkin plants nearby.

"Who're you?" Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he slipped a loop of rope around the skrewt's sting and tightened it.

"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter," Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.

"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore," said Hagrid, frowning slightly as he got off the slightly squashed skrewt and started tugging it over to its fellows.

Rita acted as though she hadn't heard what Hagrid had said.

"What are these fascinating creatures called?" she asked, beaming still more widely.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," grunted Hagrid.

"Really?" said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. "I've never heard of them before...where do they come from?"

Rohini exchanged a knowing look with Padma as they noticed a dull red flush rising up out of Hagrid's wild black beard; knowing Hagrid, they were probably coming from a not so legal source.

"And where are _you_ coming from?" Rohini said in a cold voice, taking a step closer. "I'm sure you have no reason to be here."

"Ah, Rohini!" said Rita Skeeter as she looked around. "How surprising to find you here!"

"Yeah, one wouldn't expect to find a student at school, would they?" Rohini said and she heard Padma hide a laugh as a cough behind her. Rita gave her a cold smile.

"Oh, Rohini, Rohini..." She said, shaking her head. "So you like Care of Magical Creatures, do you? One of your favorite lessons?"

"Yes, it is." Rohini said shortly, her jaw tensing up. Hagrid was beaming at her.

"Lovely," said Rita. "Really lovely. Been teaching long?" she added to Hagrid while glancing at the students hiding in the cabin and the injured one standing up around, looking at her suspiciously; most of them had told Rohini that Rita had written nasty article about their families at least once.

"This is o'ny me second year," said Hagrid.

"Lovely." Rita repeated with a smile. "I don't suppose you'd like to give an interview, would you? Share some of your experience of magical creatures? The Prophet does a zoological column every Wednesday, as I'm sure you know. We could feature these - er - Bang-Ended Scoots."

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid said eagerly. "Er - yeah, why not?"

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Hagrid." Padma whispered to Hagrid and Rohini grimaced as Hagrid and Rita Skeeter made arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a good long interview later that week. Then the bell rang up at the castle, signaling the end of the lesson.

"Well, good-bye, Rohini!" Rita Skeeter called merrily to her as he set off with Padma. "Don't forget to smile; no boys like a frowning girl! Until Friday night, then, Hagrid!"

"This little- I swear she's gonna twist everything he says!" Rohini said furiously.

"He will be lucky if she doesn't… or maybe it's just an excuse to get some information about you from him?" Padma asked with a worried expression on her face.

"Even better." Rohini grumbled, putting her clenched fists into her pockets.

"If that can cheer you up, dad said he will send you some congratulation pastries tomorrow." Padma said with a smile and Rohini dropped the sour expression for a surprised one. "He said you deserve a hundred of them for being so brave."

Rohini made a strangled noise as she covered her face with her hands. The Patils truly were too good to be real.

"Your dad is an angel, there's no other explanation." She told Padma who laughed.

"I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear about that."

"Don't you dare tell him!" Rohini laughed as she gently pushed Padma and the two of them kept messing up with each other until they reached the dungeons for their double potion class with the Slytherins.

Snape's nasty attitude was getting worse every lesson, something Rohini would have never thought possible; she wasn't sure if it was due to her surviving the first task or if he was trying to lose his job.

"Stupid bat…" Rohini whispered between her teeth as low as possible, yet Snape somehow managed to hear her and threw his chalk stick to Rohini's face before taking five points to Ravenclaw.

"I swear, he must have a fake ear or something." Rohini complained to Padma during dinner. "You know, like how Mad-Eye can see everything, but with his ear instead."

"You have the craziest theories, Rohi." Padma said, rolling her eyes. Rohini huffed.

"I don't think it's that's crazy." Luna said lightly as she helped herself to Bolognese pasta. "But I'm still convinced he's a vampire."

"You should try throwing one of those blood lollipops from Honeydukes to his face, see how he reacts." Rohini joked and Padma chocked on her pumpkin juice, tears in her eyes as she slapped Rohini's arm and called her an idiot.

Truth was, Rohini had been trying hard to keep the mood as light as she could for as long as possible, knowing things might get tense once she figures out the secret of the Golden Egg. She had gained some confidence after the first task, but she knew better than to underestimate the wizardly world's skills at making everything as perilous as possible.

And so, she decided to enjoy those few careless days as much as possible, doing her best during Professor McGonagall's private lessons, hanging out with her brother and friends as much as possible, going back on Sunday runs with Ginny and Dana, and trying to beat Ron at chess (not achieved yet).

After dinner, the three Ravenclaw girls were going back to their Common Room so that Rohini could help Luna with a DADA essay when someone called her name from another staircase.

Looking down, Rohini saw Hermione waving at her to come join her, Ron and Harry.

"Sorry Luna; I'll be quick, promise." Rohini apologised before running downstairs. "What's wrong?"

"Dunno, she refuses to tell us." Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Just follow me, you'll see!" Hermione said impatiently, grabbing Rohini by the arm and pulling her after her down through six floors, and started down the marble staircase into the entrance hall.

Rohini was beginning to doubt her friend's sanity when they turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through which Cedric Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire had regurgitated his and Rohini's names.

Feeling curiosity gaining her, Rohini hurried to follow Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one that led to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food.

"Oh hang on . . ." said Harry slowly, halfway down the corridor. "Wait a minute, Hermione!"

"What?" She turned around to look at him, anticipation all over her face.

"I know what this is about." said Harry.

He nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.

"Hermione!" said Ron, cottoning on. "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again!"

"What do you mean?" Rohini asked, confused.

"It's the secret passage to the kitchen! Fred and George told us when we went to the Three Broomsticks, remember? Blimey Hermione, just give up on Sp-"

"No, no, wait and see!" Hermione said hastily. "And it's not spew, Ron -"

"Changed the name, have you?" said Ron, frowning at her. "What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation Front? I'm not barging into that kitchen and trying to make them stop work, I'm not doing it -"

"I'm not asking you to!" Hermione said impatiently. "I came down here just now, to talk to them all, and I found - oh come on, Harry, Rohini, I want to show you!"

She seized their arm again, pulled them in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear.

It began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled the door open, and pushed the twins hard in the back, forcing them inside.

They entered an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end. Rohini was looking around with a whistle when something small hurtled toward the twins from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir! And Rohini Potter, Miss!"

Next second all the wind had been knocked out of her as the squealing elf hit her hard in the midriff, hugging her so tightly she thought her ribs would break.

"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped and Rohini opened her mouth in a silent, overjoyed yell.

"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed Dobby the House Elf, beaming at the twins "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter and his sister, sir, and Harry and Rohini Potter has come to see him, sir!"

Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He looked almost exactly as the twins remembered him; the pencil-shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and feet - all except the clothes, which were very different.

"Wow." Rohini said with a laugh. "That's quite the fashion sense you have, Dobby."

When Dobby had worked for the Malfoys, he had always worn the same filthy old pillowcase.

Now, however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of garments Rohini had ever seen.

He was wearing a tea cosy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks.

One of these, Rohini saw, was the black one Harry had removed from his own foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes.

"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.

"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!

"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"

"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Having no idea who Winky was, Rohini followed after them, unable to stop looking at everything and everyone.

Each of these tables was positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were clear of food, dinner having finished, but she supposed that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes that were then sent up through the ceiling to their counterparts above.

At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them. They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied like a toga.

Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.

"Winky, sir!" he said.

The House Elf called Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care other clothes at all.

There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.

"Hello, Winky," said Harry.

Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, scaring Rohini who exchanged an alarmed glance with Harry.

"Oh dear," said Hermione. "Winky, don't cry, please don't..."

But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.

"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.

"Er - yeah, okay," said Harry.

Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind them, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Rohini,a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.

"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice and Rohini elbowed him while Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.

"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.

"Only a week. Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed -"

At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.

"What's her problem?" Rohini whispered to Ron who shrugged, his cheeks already stuffed with biscuits.

"She's been fired by Crouch, back at the World Cup." He explained and Rohini glanced back at the crying House Elf, wondering what she could have possibly done wrong.

"Dobby has travelled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!"

The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing.

Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"

"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Harry Potter... Dobby likes being free!"

The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume other crying.

"And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.

At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Rohini looked away, feeling sorry for the poor thing.

Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.

"And then Dobby had the idea. Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house-elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"

Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again.

"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"

"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.

"Still a good start." Rohini said with an encouraging smile to Dobby."

"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss. . . . Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."

"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly.

If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.

"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"

"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you -"

But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"

"Winky is having trouble adjusting," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it."

"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, sir, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them - though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to-"

Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned the twins to come closer. Rohini bent forward. Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!"

Rohini burst in laugh and Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.

"But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."

"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry asked him, grinning.

A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes.

"Dobby - Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were - were - bad Dark wizards'."

Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring - then he rushed over to the nearest table and Rohini -who was half expecting this reaction- caught him right in time before he began banging his head on it very hard.

"Thank you. Rohini Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly.

"Just need Practice." Rohini assured him.

"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"

"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"

"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her ... oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.

"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know -"

"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Rohini's great, she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!"

"Bagman - bad?" said Harry.

"He's an enthusiastic idiot, sure but to call him bad…" Rohini said and Winky frowned.

"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously, "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying.. . Winky - Winky keeps her master's secrets. ..."

She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!"

They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.

"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest.

"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?"

Dobby was delighted.

"We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron told him, "but it'll go well with your tea cozy."

As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but the twins and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.

"You're the best." Rohini told the elves with a bright smile.

"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"

"Bye, Dobby!" Rohini said.

"Harry Potter, Rohini Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes?" Dobby asked tentatively.

" 'Course you can," said Harry and Rohini nodded.

"You know what?" said Ron, once he, Hermione, and the twins had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. "All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and George, nicking food from the kitchens - well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away!"

"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know," said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase. "Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them that they want that too!"

"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Harry and Rohini snorted.

"Oh she'll cheer up," said Hermione, though she sounded a bit doubtful. "Once the shock's worn off, and she's got used to Hogwarts, she'll see how much better off she is without that Crouch man."

"She seems to love him," said Ron thickly (he had just started on a cream cake).

"Doesn't think much of Bagman, though, does she?" said Harry. "Wonder what Crouch says at home about him?"

"Probably says he's not a very good Head of Department," said Hermione, "and let's face it... he's got a point, hasn't he?"

"That he does…" Rohini mumbled, for she wasn't fond of Bagman.

"I'd still rather work for him than old Crouch," said Ron. "At least Bagman's got a sense of humor."

"Don't let Percy hear you saying that," Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, well, Percy wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humour, would he?" said Ron, now starting on a chocolate eclair. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy."

"That's the worst mental picture I've ever had." Rohini said, grimacing. "Thanks, Ron."

"You're welcome." Ron said and the group of friends merrily made their way back to their respective Common Room.

While helping Luna, Rohini told her best friends about their little trip to the kitchen but the girls didn't seem surprised to learn about the presence of House Elves at Hogwarts. She shared the food the House Elves gave her with them and two First Years who were sitting on the opposite couch, the Common Room filled with the pleasant sound of rain and a smell of Petrichor, that night.


	16. Chapter 16

Rohini had been convinced that nothing could waste her good mood on this perfect Monday, for it had snowed for the first time of the year overnight and nothing pleased her more than awaking to a perfectly blank landscape view.

Sadly for Rohini, she didn't possess the same gift as Padma when it came to predict the future, and her day took a sour turn three hours later, as Professor Flitwick asked for every Ravenclaws' attention.

Rohini, who had been reading the Marauders' journal under her desk, didn't realise the Head of her house had been staring at her until he cleared his throat. Blushing as everybody giggled, Rohini apologised and Professor Flitwick nodded before saying:

"I have something extremely important to announce, and I'm sure you will all be delighted by it; the Yule Ball is approaching! This ball is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests." He said, beaming and looking at everybody expectantly. A pregnant pause followed; except from Lisa Turpin and Elliot McClain, nobody seemed thrilled by the idea.

Professor Flitwick ignored the less than enthusiastic reactions and continued, "The ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish. Dress robes will be worn and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -" Professor Flitwick paused and made a funny little excited noise.

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down. And in order to have you all enjoy this evening, each House Head was instructed to take one hour per week to teach their students how to dance!"

"You must be kidding me." Rohini said, deadpan and Padma elbowed her. Professor Flitwick then turned to her, his grin getting even larger.

"As for you, Miss Potter, as our talented champion, you will have the honour to open the ball with your partner!"

"My _what_ now?" Rohini said, turning crimson as everybody began to giggle once more. "Professor, is there any way to decline this –huh- charming role?"

"Well," Professor Flitwick said, losing his smile, "I'm afraid not; champions have been doing it since the creation of the tournament, it's an old tradition-"

"But I- I can't dance." Rohini said, suddenly panicked; the only time she had danced was with Harry when they were 6 and celebrating their birthday on their own.

"Luckily for you, I'm an excellent dancer!" Professor Flitwick said with a laugh. "I will make sure that you know how to waltz perfectly!"

He then asked everybody to pair, having decided to begin their special lessons as soon as today. Rohini was the last one on her feet and resisted the urge to run away when Professor Flitwick announced he would need her assistance to show the rest of the class how to move their feet.

Rohini might be the shortest girl in the room, but she was still much taller than Professor Flitwick; the height difference and Rohini's tense muscles and lack of grace made it extremely hard for them to do even the simplest moves and after 10 hard minutes, the Charms Master decided to ask Lisa's assistance instead.

"I'm gonna die." Rohini said as she and Padma watched everybody try to copy Flitwick's movements around them; it was a real chaos, people yelping in pain as they walked on each other foot and bumped into each other. Only Zach and Elliot, though unable to stop laughing, seemed to be able to dance in perfect synch together.

"Don't be an idiot, it's just dancing." Padma huffed. "Come on, on your feet! You're the one who need those lessons the most, champion."

"Oh, hush." Rohini mumbled, slouching her shoulders as she pictured how ridiculous she would look next to the other champions, trying her best to dance and tripping over her dress; Malfoy would probably mock her for the next few decades after that and Rita Skeeter would make sure to write an article about this impressive failure.

"Take my hand." Padma suddenly said, standing in front of Rohini with a determined expression.

"What?" Rohini asked stupidly, blinking.

"Take my hand!" Padma repeated. "I refuse to let you make a fool of yourself. Come on!"

"But-" Rohini said, blushing; what would everybody think of her if she danced with her best friend?

She was relieved though as she glanced around and realised that most people were actually dancing with their best friends, too, laughing and teasing each other.

"Ok." Rohini finally said in a strangled voice, taking Padma's hand and finally standing up. Padma smiled and leaded Rohini to the middle of the room, which had been magically emptied of all tables and chairs.

"Now, straighten your back." Padma said, one hand on Rohini's back and the other on her chest to help her into a better position. "Like this. Good. Keep this position, always. And don't be so stiff!"

"You look like you're enjoying this." Rohini pointed out, trying to distract herself from the butterflies in her stomach. Padma blushed.

"I just- fine, I'm really looking to dancing in pretty robes." She admitted, taking Rohini's hand to put it on her own waist. Rohini felt her heart beating faster and gulped loudly. Padma didn't seem to notice. "Parvati and I used dressed as princesses when we were young, and always danced with mum and dad, pretending we were the prettiest girls of the ball."

"Well, I'm sure _you_ will be the prettiest of us all." Rohini said before she could stop herself and Padma laughed, embarrassed.

"You forget about Fleur. I'm sure every guy is going to try to ask her out now."

"Don't sweat it." Rohini said. "I'm sure no one would get the nerves for that."

"I do- Outch!" Padma winced as Rohini stepped on her feet.

"Sorry." Rohini apologised quickly. "Maybe I should just le-"

Padma's grip got stronger, her best friend silently daring her to get away from her. Rohini wondered if she would still want to dance with her if she knew about her feelings, and decided that it was better to just don't think about it for now.

They were best friends, first. Best friends dancing together and managing to have fun, just like the rest of the class.

Rohini had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; she and Harry always did, of course, because the alternative was usually going back to Privet Drive, but she had always been very much in the minority before now.

This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to be obsessed with the coming ball. The girls especially seemed affected by it, though Rohini had smile as she heard two boys gushing about the girls they wanted to ask out during a Transfiguration lesson.

It seemed to affect the teachers just as much, for even Professor McGonagall asked Rohini at the end of one of their lessons if she had found a partner yet.

"It's very important that our champions don't go alone, Potter." She said severely and Rohini hurried to leave, pretending she had some homework to finish. Truth to be told, she was still hoping for Professor Flitwick to announce that she could be dismissed from going.

"Maybe I could pretend to be sick." She said one day, as she, Harry and Ron worked on a stupid Divination assignment; the three of them had been making up stupid premonition, mostly about their upcoming death.

"You should put that on your list." Harry said before imitating Rohini's voice "I foresee that I will catch a fatal disease on Christmas day, thus making it impossible for me to go to the ball."

"God, I wish." Rohini sighed. "Honestly, this is probably how death feels like; having to dance in front of everybody and making a fool of myself. I'd rather fight a dragon again. Have you asked someone out already?"

The boys shook their head.

"Why do girls have to move in packs?" Harry asked Rohini as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"

"Lasso one?" Ron suggested. Rohini snorted. "Got any idea who you're going to try?"

Harry didn't answer and Rohini bit her lips to stop herself from grinning. She knew perfectly who Harry had in mind; a gorgeous, strong, breath taking Seeker named Cho Chang.

"I've heard Cho Chang had been asked out a few times already." She casually said, noticing how Harry suddenly raised his head from his parchment. "But she refused straight away; she's quite the heartbreaker."

"How about you?" Ron asked. "You're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet guys'll be queuing up to go with you now that you're popular."

"Thanks, Ronald." Rohini said, deadpan. "You sure know how to talk to a girl. No wonder you have no date, yet."

"Thanks, Rohini." Ron said on the same tone and Harry snorted.

Ron's prediction turned out to be quite right Rohini had never talk to so many boys before and especially not some who wanted to ask her out to the ball without having talk to her beforehand.

The first guy to ask her out had been a Hufflepuff, tall and generally handsome, right after a double Herbology class together. Unable to remember his name, Rohini had stared at him blankly before running away, cheeks all red from the embarrassment of being asked out like this in front of everyone.

To her horror, the boys kept coming and coming, no matter how many time she rejected them; it was a real nightmare and Rohini wished bitterly for the first time in weeks that Harry had been the one chosen as a champion instead; she knew nobody would be interested in her if she wasn't "famous" now.

As if things weren't bad enough as they were, Rohini had to witness Padma being asked on a date quite regularly too, her chest clenching painfully every time and feeling quite relieved when the boys were turned down by her friend.

"I really don't understand why they are all coming after me." Padma admitted one evening, as Rohini sat on her bed to help her braid her long, beautiful hair. "I'm not a champion, or a prefect, or-"

"You're beautiful, Padma." Rohini cut her, feeling slightly bold from the lack of sleep (she kept waking up from nightmares about the upcoming Christmas). "Did you know that Dean Thomas called you and Parvati Hogwart's prettiest girls?"

"Really?" Padma said, blushing and looking pleased. "No, I didn't."

"Are you… are you going to ask him out?" Rohini asked, glad Padma couldn't see the nervous expression on her face. Padma shrugged.

"No, he is nice but… I don't really know him, do I? We only talked once, and it was because he wanted to borrow my Potions book."

"Good." Rohini said without a thought.

"Hmm?" Padma asked.

"Nothing." Rohini answered. Thranduil meowed indignantly, as if telling his mistress to stop being such a coward. Rohini pulled her tongue out at her cat, and Thranduil turned his back to her.

The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Rohini didn't believe half of them - for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta.

It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Tohini didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but she deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.

"I'm so glad I was old enough to be a part of the trip; the Weird Sisters are the best!" Dana said after one of their morning runs. "Dad and I went to one of their concerts, last year; we left my sisters with our neighbour, they are too young for that kind of thing."

"Lucky you." Ginny sighed. "I've always wanted to go, too, but…"

Rohini knew that the reason behind that was that the Weasleys were too poor to afford tickets.

"Too bad you're too young to come to the Ball." She said and Ginny began to blush. "Unless someone invite you…"

"How about Rohini's dearest brother?" Dana said with a wink at Ginny, who turned crimson. "Ask him out!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Ginny grumbled before stopping, eyes wide opened. "Am I hallucinating or… is Hermione really talking to _Victor Krum_ right now?"

"What?" Rohini asked, looking by the library's window. "No way, she is!" She gasped as the three of them stared in astonishment at their friend, sitting face to face with Krum and talking in hushed voices.

Hermione suddenly raised her head and froze when she saw them standing right here, their nose stuck to the glass and their mouth opened in shock, and blushed before excusing herself and running outside the library to hit them with her book.

"What do you think you were doing?" She yelled before pushing her towards the castle.

"Hermione, what on earth was that? I thought you hate Krum!" Rohini asked, confused. Hermione blushed even more.

"I hate his fangirls, but he's… well, he isn't that bad." She admitted and Ginny burst in laugh. "Oh, shush! Please, don't talk to the boys about it."

"Never; Ron will do a syncope if he knew you breathed the same air as his beloved Quidditch player." Rohini said with a teasing smile. "What did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing, really; he had barely been here for a minute before I saw the three of you spying on me." Hermione said with a frown and the girls looked away innocently.

Still, they kept their promise and didn't talk to the boys about it.

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas.

When the decorations went up. Rohini noticed that they were the most stunning she had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them.

It was quite something to hear "0 Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words.

Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.

If some teachers were kindly excusing the student's silly mood, others were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off.

It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as the weather report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Rohini and Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly while playing chess with Rohini, Hermione and Harry watching. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."

"Mmm… you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes.

"Merry Christmas." Rohini breathed and Ron snorted.

Hermione looked severely over at her, too. "I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Rohini."

"Like what?" Rohini asked, surprised.

"That egg!" Hermione hissed. "Krum-" She began before stopping, blushing once more.

"Yes?" Rohini asked with a grin.

"Nevermind." Hermione grumbled, going back to her book.

There were still two and a half months to go until Rohini needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant and she was decided to wait until last minute to resolve this annoying puzzle, faithful to the Ravenclaws' Procrastination side.

"So, have you find a date yet?" Someone asked; it was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with them and watched as Ron took Rohini's queen. Rohini sighed in defeat.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically. Harry and Rohini snorted.

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly.

"So . . . you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope," said Ron.

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the Great Hall "Oi!Angelina!"

Angelina, who was walking past the Main Gates, stopped to look at them.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to her friend Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake." He got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on..."

They left. Ron rested his chin on his hand and looked at Harry with a serious expression on his face.

"We should get a move on, you know . . . ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."

Rohini throw her queen piece right into his nose. Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.

"A pair of... what, excuse me?"

"Well - you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with - with Eloise Midgen, say."

"Her acne's loads better lately - and she's really nice!"

"Her nose is off-center," said Ron. Rohini rolled her eyes; boys sure were real idiots.

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Er - yeah, that sounds about right." said Ron.

"Really smart of you, Ron." Hermione said shortly before taking her leave.

"What did I do?" Ron asked Harry and Rohini. Harry shrugged and Rohini pinched her nose with a sigh.

"You're a complete moron, Ron. Sometimes brilliant, but really stupid right now."

Ron looked offended but before he could say anything, Padma, Parvati and Lavender joined them and so the conversation went back to a less sensitive and funnier topic: Divination.

Still, they found themselves having the same conversation two days later, while they waited for Hermione to come out of the girls bathroom.

"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," Harry said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.

"Harry - we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," said Ron, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. "When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners - agreed?"

"Er… okay," said Harry.

On the same instant, Cho Chang walked past them with her group of friends and waved at Rohini before smiling at Harry.

"Go on, ask her now." Rohini whispered to her brother before giving him a little push in the back. Harry stumbled, making Cho Chang's friends giggle, and awkwardly asked Cho Chang if he could have a word with her. Rohini watched them walk away from the rest of the group, talk for a moment, before joining them again.

Harry looked like a puppy kicked out of his house, and Rohini understood that he had been politely rejected.

"Who?" She just asked.

"Diggory." Harry spat.

"Outch." She said, patting his shoulder. "That's rough, buddy. At least, you tried, right?"

"What did I miss?" Hermione asked as she got out of the bathroom and Rohini told her what just happened.

"Oh. That's… sad." Hermione said and the two girls glanced at each other before puffing.

"Oh, shut up." Harry grumbled moodily. "Let's get lunch."

Both amused and sorry for her brother, Rohini said nothing and followed him and their friends to the Great Hall.

As Christmas was only a breath away, Rohini grew more and more irritated about the whole thing; she wasn't making any progresses at dancing, feeling the pressure of being a champion a bit more every day. Boys were still coming to her with charming smiles that vanished as soon as she told them to go away.

"Is there really no one you're interested in?" Padma asked one day during breakfast. "You could ask George Weasley; you two get along well, don't you?"

"Huh." Rohini said, exchanging a glance above Padma's head with Luna who gave Rohini a knowing look; the youngest Ravenclaw had been the first one to realise that Rohini had no interest in boys, romantically speaking.

"He's a good friend, but I don't think Rohini sees him as more." Luna said. Rohini gave her a grateful smile.

"Yeah, he's more like a distant relative, you know?" Rohini explained and Padma nodded. "Look, can we talk about something else right now? Like, I don't know, socks?"

"Socks." Padma said with a blank look.

"I've heard Professor Dumbledore's had really nice ones." Rohini said. The two friends stared at each other for a moment before bursting in laugh. Rohini didn't hear about the ball until the 21th of December, as she, Harry, Ron and Ginny came back from paying a visit to Hagrid.

"I can't believe even Ginny have a date! With Neville, on top of that!" Ron was complaining.

"You'd rather have her go on a date with me?" Rohini asked, raising an eyebrow. Ron looked at her with a disgusted expression.

"Of course not! It would be like she's dating Harry, since you two are twins!"

Rohini puffed, though she was relieved that Ron was only bothered by how similar she and Harry looked and not the 'girl with girl' aspect of her suggestion.

"It's worse than your idea to go with Harry." Ron kept going, throwing a pebble into the lake as they stopped to look at the Durmstrang ship. Rohini rolled her eyes.

"Ok, it wasn't my best idea but he doesn't have a date yet."

"Well, you don't either." Harry said shortly.

"Touché." Rohini sighed. "Both Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick have been buggering me with that; it's apparently inadmissible for a champion to go without a partner."

"Maybe you should ask Nearly Headless Nick," Ron said with a snort, "at least you have no chance of crushing his feet with yours."

"Oh, shut up!" Rohini laughed, slapping his arm.

"Rohini!" Someone called and they turned their head to see the Patil twins and Lavender coming their way.

"Oh, what are you doing outside? I thought you didn't like the cold." Rohini said, surprised and Parvati shrugged.

"We needed to send a letter to mum and dad; they are a bit sad we're not going to be here for the holiday, but they are still happy that we're going to have fun." She explained before looking at the boys with a smile. "See you at dinner, then. Bye Rohi!"

"Wait, Parvati!" Harry suddenly called, running after the three girls. "Would you- would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Parvati blinked, surprised, before smiling with a little chuckle.

"Sure." She said, glancing at Lavender before giggling.

Rohini didn't have the time to react that Ron run after Padma, too.

"Hey Padma; want to go with me, then?"

Padma seemed less enthusiastic about the idea and Rohini held back her breath, time suddenly frozen-

"Well, ok then." Padma said with a shrug and Ron sighed, relieved.

Rohini froze, feeling suddenly extremely cold and finding it hard to breath. She should have seen it coming, of course; Padma was Hogwart's prettiest girl, after all. It was already a miracle she hadn't find a date yet; at least, it was someone they both know.

Yet, it was the fact that it was Ron that hurt the most; Rohini knew she had no chance to begin with, but Ron? Her brother's best friend? It left a bitter feeling of betrayal in her mouth, somehow.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Harry asked, waving his hand in front of Rohini's eyes. Rohini slapped his hand away.

"Nothing." She said shortly.

Of course, Ron was too pleased to realise her change of mood.

"Well, that was easier than I thought." He said proudly, standing in front of Rohini with a stupid grin on his face.

Rohini said nothing, clenching her teeth to hold back from saying something she would regret later.

"I mean, Dean is right; Padma is really pretty, right? I wonder why I never realised before. I mean, she's your best friend so-" He suddenly stopped, realising that Rohini was staring at him with her jaw clenched and fire in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She said slowly, before repeating more loudly, "What's wrong? You dare to ask me what's wrong, Ronald Weasley?" She said, hitting Ron's chest with her index. "You just had the _nerves_ to ask Padma out, right in front of me, you brainless pumpkin!"

"I don't get it." Ron said, glancing helplessly at Harry. "You said yesterday that you didn't want a stranger to ask her-"

"Because I was hoping to ask her out myself, you freaking id -!" Rohini shouted before freezing, realising what she had just said. She then covered her mouth, but it was too late; Ron and Harry were staring at her with eyes wide opened in shock.

"Shit." Rohini said weakly. "Nevermind, forget what I just s-"

"You… you wanted to ask her out? _Padma_?" Ron asked.

"Of course I wanted to ask her out, who did you expected me to ask? Neville? _Peeves_?" Rohini said, now shaking and laughing nervously, biting her nails and glancing around to make sure nobody had heard them. "I'm going back to the castle." She said before leaving the two boys behind.

Her mind was filled with a really nerves wrecking buzzling sound, as if a millions bees were flying inside her head. She felt both hot and cold at the same time, and her skin was glistering, covered in sweat.

"Shit!" She said, chasing a beetle that was flying around her head. "Shit!" She yelled louder.

She felt awful, abnormal almost; was it really normal to feel this way for another girl? After all, must couples that had been forming since the Yule Ball announcement had been made of a girl and a boy.

She remembered the disgusted expression on Aunt Petunia's face one day, as two men holding hands had passed in front of them as they queue at a supermarket. Was it just the Dursleys' personal and despicable opinion, or was it a common reaction?

Feeling the beginning of a headache, Rohini decided to isolate herself for a while by hiding in the empty corridor where she met Dana for the first time, months ago. She was still brooding when someone called her name; it was Luna, who was standing barefoot in front of her with a worried expression on her soft face.

"Hey." Rohini said weakly and Luna smiled briefly before sitting next to her and passing a comforting arm around Rohini's shoulder.

"I've heard from Padma." Luna simply said and Rohini whispered a weak "Oh" before resting her head against her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Rohini."

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Rohini said, blinking fast to chase the tears away; she refused to cry over something so pathetic. "I just… I love her." She finally said; it was the first time she admitted it aloud, and the weight on her chest seemed to lighten slightly.

"I- Oh my gosh, I'm in love with my best friend, Luna. I don't know why, I just- Padma is- Sorry, this is stupid." Rohini mumbled and Luna caressed her hair with a soothing hush.

"It's not stupid, Rohini. I promise."

"Sorry." Rohini apologised.

"Don't be sorry, it's ok."

"Sorry…sorry. Damn, I mean- sorry."

"It's ok." Luna just repeated, again and again, until Rohini had calmed down.

Then, they just sat in silence, hugging each other close and listening to the hushed conversations coming from the portraits around them.

"It's probably time for dinner." Luna said after a while, helping Rohini to her feet. "I'm sure a bit of chocolate cake will help."

"Thanks, Professor Lupin." Rohini joked and Luna laughed.

"Well, if it isn't my little knight and her lovely friend." Someone said lightly behind them, it was Dana, as cheerful as ever. Her smile disappeared however when she saw Rohini's face and she came closer, looking worried.

"I will see you later." Luna said before excusing herself.

"What's wrong, Rohini?" Dana asked and Rohini looked away, not sure if she should tell her the truth; she knew Dana was her friend, but how would she react if she knew the truth about Rohini?

"I- Padma. She got asked out by my friend, Ron."

"Oh."

"She said yes."

"Ah." Dana said, realising what it implied.

"Yeah." Rohini just said with a joyless laugh. "I'm… not taking it very well. I mean, I'm the only one without a date one so I feel a bit lame." She lied. Dana raised an eyebrow.

"I'd thought someone as brave and interesting as you would have found a partner, already."

"I- people asked, but I didn't know them so it just didn't feel right, you know? Plus I wasn't… I'm not really interested. In boys, I mean." She finally admitted.

"Is that so." Dana said and Rohini didn't dare to look at her until Dana took her hand and put one knee to the ground with a little grin on her face.

"Well, then: would my little saviour like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" She asked and Rohini opened her mouth, blinked, and giggled before covering her blushing face with her free hand.

"Oh my gosh." She said and the two girls began to laugh as Dana stood up. "You're too much."

"Is that a yes?" Dana asked.

"Yeah… yeah, it's a yes." Rohini said, still hiding her smiling face. Dana offered her one of her arm and Rohini took it with another laugh.

"Allow me to walk you back to the Great Hall, my lady." She said and the two of them walked towards the Main Gates together, laughing and glancing at each other with amusement.


	17. Chapter 17

Hi guys!

Thank everybody for their kind review!

I'm really sorry for updating so late, but i was very sick lately and too exhausted to write.

But i'm better now, and have even adopted a cat!

Hope you will like this new chapter!

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 _CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: THE YULE BALL SCANDAL_

 _Rohini Potter, famous intruder of the Triwizard Tournament, showed once more that she lived for fame and provocation by asking not only an older student, but a poor, innocent, naïve girl from Durmstrang to be her partner for the Yule Ball._

 _No doubt that this unfortunate partner had been intimidated by Potter's reputation, and was too afraid to refuse._

 _Since the creation of the Triwizard Tournament, no champions had showed such boldness as to come with a same-sex partner, obviously caring more about their reputations than Hogwarts' second champion._

 _When being asked, a few anonymous students had admitted that Rohini Potter had never shown any interest in boys before, thus confirming what one might have feared: the rebellious, irritable Ravenclaw student is a notorious homosexual._

 _Is it due to a childhood trauma? Is she only confused, or doing it for attention?_

 _No matter the reason behind this, Rita Skeeter –your lovely, single journalist- felt the need to bring this scandal to the light, in hope that many parents, scared for their daughters, will write to Hogwarts and ask for this mockery to end; a champion has to be a role model for its school, and Rohini Potter couldn't be further away from being one._

 _More about famous homosexual wizards and witches at page 8._

Rohini had had this dream once, where she had forgotten to get dressed and was standing naked in front of her classmates. She had awoken in tears, terrified that it might have been real.

As everybody looked and pointed at her, whispering fast, Rohini felt like she was as naked as she was in her dream.

She should have seen it coming of course; nobody would miss out on the fact that Dana was a stunning girl as the two of them opened the ball. Yet, there was something extremely shameful in the way Rita described it, like a deep flaw in Rohini's core.

Rohini liked girls.

"I never knew-"

"Can't believe she is-"

"A lesbian, I think it's called-"

"That's horrible!"

"I will never feel-"

The whispers were growing louder, slowly turning into an incoherent buzzing that was giving Rohini a headache. Her vision was becoming blurred and she tried to blink a few times, but it didn't help. Gulping, she realised her throat was feeling quite dry, and so she reached for her goblet but spilled the orange juice on the newspapers open in front of her.

Rohini felt like her whole body was disconnected from her mind; even her heart must have had a problem, for she couldn't tell how she felt. Everything was just blank, as if her brain was surrounded by a thick mist.

"Rohini?" She heard Padma say. Rohini turned her face toward her best friend; what would Padma do now? Would she understand everything, and come to notice Rohini's feelings for her? Would she be surprised, disappointed, upset? Would she refuse to sleep in the bed next to her now?

"I think she needs some air." Luna said on her left before gently but firmly pulling Rohini on her feet and pushing her towards the main gates. Rohini could feel everyone's eyes on her back, leaving an invisible burning mark on her skin.

It was snowing outside, but Rohini barely noticed it. A few snowflakes got caught on her eyelashes, creating little white spots in front of her eyes. Luna lead her towards the Herbology greenhouses that were deserted this early, except from a few crying Mandrakes and the different plants that seemed to be asleep.

The smell – close to the petrichor one- had a soothing effect on Rohini who sat on the closest stool, Luna standing in front of her with a worried expression.

"They know. Everybody knows." Rohini said before laughing. "Oh my god. Everybody- not just the students- they know!"

"They do." Luna said with a nod before kneeling in front of Rohini and taking her hands. "It's ok, Rohini. It's ok."

"No, it's not." Rohini said, shaking her head. "I- Luna, people are going to hate me! They- they will think I'm… I actually have no idea what they will think of me. Is it a bad thing? Am I wrong?"

"Why would you be wrong?" Luna asked softly. Rohini thought about it.

"I don't know. I like girls."

"So does Harry."

"But Harry is a boy."

"And what does it change?"

"It sounds… normal. For him, I mean." Rohini said.

"Am I normal?" Luna asked suddenly.

"You- well, you're quite original but in a good way?" Rohini said and Luna chuckled.

"Exactly. Being normal is good. Being slightly out of the ordinary is good, too. Your worth comes from here." She said, pointing at Rohini's heart. "If you're a good person, then you being normal or not shouldn't matter."

"Even if it's this kind of not-so-normal?" Rohini asked timidly.

"Especially if it's this kind of not so ordinary." Luna said firmly. "You shouldn't be ashamed of who you love. I'm sure Padma will tell you the same."

"Thanks, Luna." Rohini said before bringing her friend into a tight embrace. "You're the best kind of unordinary friend."

Luna chuckled, hugging Rohini back.

Rohini had been told once that if you weren't confident, then you had to fake it until it became true. And if she wasn't feeling confident at all when she and Luna went back to the Great Hall, where everybody stared at them, Rohini was strong enough to stand up straight, hold her chin high and refuse to lower her glance.

From the teachers table, she saw Dumbledore give her a warm smile and so did Hagrid; the rest of the teachers didn't seem to react much, though she could swear Professor Flitwick gave her a little wave.

Sitting back next to Padma, Rohini forced a smile on her face as she glanced at her best friend, worried about what Padma would say. But Padma said nothing and only gave Rohini's hand a little squeeze. It was both disarming and comforting, and Rohini decided to stay quiet, too.

As breakfast ended, Rohini waited patiently for the rest of the students to have left before standing up. She had barely taken one step when someone slapped her back hard enough for her breath to be cut short.

Confused, she turned her head and saw Zach and Elliott standing right here, a huge grin on their faces.

"That was so cool of you to come back, champion!" Elliott said, beaming.

"Yeah, I would have never expected you to! I mean, you're usually so… I don't know, sensitive?" Zach said. "But right now, you were like "I'm not gonna let Skeeter drag me down!" and it was really amazing."

"Ah, thank you." Rohini said, surprised. "I- I wasn't feeling so brave, to be honest."

"Honestly, Skeeter couldn't be so wrong; you really are an inspiration." Elliott said. "I think it's gonna help a lot of people, that a female champion will go with another girl to the Ball. In fact, Zach and I are gonna follow your example and go together." Elliott stated, passing an arm around Zach's neck.

"Well, see ya later then!" Zach said and the two boys left, looking quite merry.

"I… didn't expect that." Rohini said before laughing. "Oh god, that's… that's amazing!"

"Blimey Rohini!" Ron shouted as the Gryffindor trio ran towards them. "Did you see Malfoy's face when you came back and didn't look bothered at all? It was priceless!"

"I was too occupied trying not to run away to notice." Rohini admitted.

"Maybe Collin has a photo." Harry said lightly. Rohini looked into her brother's eyes, trying to figure out how he felt. Harry just smiled back proudly at her, and Rohini sighed, relieved.

"Dean and Seamus were rooting for you, you know." Ron continued. "They said they knew from the start. Nobody believed them, of course."

"I knew, too." Hermione said. "It was quite obvious, really. I'm glad Dana asked you to go to the Yule Ball with her." She said to Rohini.

"Speaking of it, Hermione - who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron.

He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me."

"Rohini? Should we go and finish our Divination essay?" Padma suddenly asked and Rohini was going to point out that they already had, when she caught Padma's eyes and understood it was just an excuse.

"Ok." Rohini agreed, following her best friend away from their group of friends.

People were still staring as they walked by, pointing and raising eyebrows, snickering or cheering loudly. Even the ghosts seemed to know about this morning's article, looking at Rohini curiously.

Padma lead Rohini back to their dorm and shooed two girls out of their bedroom before closing the door behind her and sitting on her bed.

Suddenly less confident, Rohini just stood there awkwardly, dancing from one foot to another before sitting on her own bed, facing Padma.

"So." Padma said.

"So." Rohini repeated. A pregnant pause followed, and the two girls suddenly sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Padma asked.

"Do you hate me?" Rohini said at the same time.

"You first." They said in synch, paused, and laughed; just like that, the tension was gone.

"Short girls first." Padma said and Rohini pretended to look hurt before biting her lips, trying to figure out what to do or say.

"I guess Skeeter said it all; I like girls, the same way most boys do." Rohini said. "I… I've know for a while, now. So did Luna and Ginny; I guess it was pretty obvious. Apparently, even Dean and Seamus knew, and they aren't even my friends."

"I never knew." Padma said, so low Rohini almost missed it. Rohini played with a hole in her sleeve.

"I always made sure you wouldn't." She admitted. "I was scared- scared that it wasn't normal and that you would hate me for it. I didn't want to lose you. You're… you're my best and very first friend." Rohini said, her voice slightly shaking.

To her surprise, tears began to fall from Padma's beautiful eyes.

"Why- why would I hate you? Didn't you trust me enough?" She asked, sounding hurt. "Rohini, I don't care if you like boys or girls, or even ghosts! You are my best friend, and I would never ditch you over something so- so stupid!"

"It's not stupid!" Rohini shouted before looking down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to- Padma, please believe me, I trust you more than anyone in this castle, except for Harry. It's just, I have never heard about girls loving girls before, and it's so scary, even for me! I was just… afraid, Padma." Rohini admitted, slouching on herself. "So afraid."

Silence followed, only broken by Padma's sniffs.

"Do you... Have you ever… loved a girl? I mean, like, fallen for one?" Padma asked.

"…Yeah." Rohini admitted weakly.

"Do you still love her?"

"I do." Rohini breathed.

"Does she know?" Padma asked.

"No. I- I don't want her to." Rohini said.

Another pause, a silent question floating in the air: who?

"Tell me more about her. Please." Padma asked. Rohini sighed, still not looking at her friend.

"I don't have enough words to describe her." Rohini said. "She is… she is mesmerizing. Kind and funny, beautiful and bright. She- she will always be special to me."

"Always?"

"Always."

"Well, she is a lucky girl then." Padma said. Rohini raised her head, surprised. Padma gave her a weak smile before standing up from her bed to stand in front of Rohini and offering her one hand. "I'm sure that if she was here, she wouldn't want you to look so sad."

"Padma…"

"Come now, champion; you don't want to step on Dana's feet in front of everyone tomorrow, do you?" Padma asked. "Take my hand; I'll show you how to dance properly."

"Ok." Rohini said, taking Padma's hand, noticing how slightly shaky it was. "Ok." she repeated, finally standing up.

"Good." Padma breathed.

They didn't talk about it for the rest of the day, practicing until lunch and acting as if nothing had happened, smiling at Luna and laughing at Ginny's jokes until curfew.

Rohini didn't even remember going to bed, and was quite confused that she awoke the next day, wrapped in her comfy blanket, Thranduil lying on her face and slowly suffocating her to death.

Pushing him away with a groan, Rohini considered going back to bed –everybody else seemed still asleep- when two large, round, green eyes staring back at her in the darkness scared her to death.

"Miss Potter!"

"Dobby!" Rohini whispered, one hand on her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Dobby is sorry, Miss!" squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Rohini Potter 'Merry Christmas' and bring her a present, Miss! Rohini Potter did say Dobby could come and see her sometimes, Miss!"

"Oh." Rohini said, taken aback. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of Dobby's tea cozy; he sure had the Christmas Spirit in him.

"Can Dobby give Rohini Potter her present, before going to see Harry Potter?" he squeaked tentatively.

"Oh, sure! Just, don't scare Harry to hell like that. Actually, I have something for you, too." Rohini said, quickly going through her trunk as quietly as she could before pulling out an old, ugly shirt that once belonged to Aunt Petunia.

"Oh, Dobby had never possessed a shirt before!" Dobby squealed, utterly delighted before handing Rohini a small package which turned out to be purple socks with orange pumpkins on them.

"Dobby is making them himself, Miss!" the elf said happily. "He is buying the wool out of his wages, Miss!"

"You're so talented, Dobby." Rohini said with a soft smile before taking off her own socks to wear Dobby's. "Here, looking good!"

"Dobby must go now, Miss, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens and Dobby needs to see Harry Potter, Miss!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory.

"What was that?" Padma mumbled sleepily as she sat up in her bed, her hair all over the place.

"Just Dobby the house elf. He gave me socks!" Rohini said and Padma laughed when she saw what they looked like.

"Stunning." She said and Rohini huffed. "Is it present time, then?"

"I suppose so." Rohini said, going through her trunk once more and pulling out a little box wrapped in a Christmas patterned gift paper. "Here, for you!"

"Oooh!" Padma said excitedly, hurrying to unwrap it and laughing when she saw what it was. "Really, Rohi? Really?"

"I figured you would never read it otherwise." Rohini smiled as Padma picked up _The Hobbit_ by Tolkien and took a look at the first page. "I hope you will like it."

"So do I!" Padma said. "As for your gift… It will have to wait until tonight." Padma said mysteriously and refused to tell more to Rohini, no matter how much she begged for a clue or two.

Rohini's other presents were a book about Dragons by Dana (of course), little Squid earrings from Luna, a new handmade sweater from Mrs. Weasley with a dragon pattern (Dana would probably be envious), a book about Muggles Myths by Hermione, a bulging bag of Dungbombs by Ron, A purple handmade beanie by Ginny, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot from Sirius, and from Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Rohini's favorites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees.

There was also, of course, Harry's gift which was filled with tricks and candies made by the Weasley twins as well as a new diary.

"I can tell this is going to be a nice day." Padma said as Luna joined them, all sleepy and yawning.

People were still whispering and pointing at Rohini, but the reactions weren't as strong and negative as she had expected them to be. Fred and George didn't miss the new teasing opportunity however, but Rohini laughed with them as they all played in the snow for the rest of the day, coming back to the castle with red cheeks and soaked to the bones but quite merry.

There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock they trooped back to their respective dorms.

"That's such a shame that you can't come with us." Rohini said to Luna as they waited for Padma to get dressed. "It would be more fun if you were there."

"It's ok, I'm sure you will manage to have fun." Luna assured her. "Aren't you going to change?"

"I'm so unmotivated about this ball." Rohini sighed, glancing at the lilac dress on her bed. "Actually, how about you go and pretend to be me?"

"I'm too tall for that." Luna teased her and Rohini gasped before laughing.

"Rohini, I told you to get dressed!" They heard Padma say behind them and Rohini couldn't help but stare as her best friend stood up in front of them and turned on herself to show them her dress.

"How do I look?" She asked.

"Lovely." Luna said.

"Stunning." Rohini agreed with a blush. Turquoise truly suited Padma, and the few jewels she was wearing made her shine like a star; her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists.

"Thank you!" Padma said, beaming. "Now, your turn!"

"Fine, fine…" Rohini grumbled, reluctantly picking up her dress to go and get changed. She felt ridiculous next to the rest of the pretty girls.

"Here comes nothing." She said, crossing her arms and sulking as she stood in front of her friend.

"Wait a moment." Padma said before looking for something under her bed and picking up a little box with a smile. "Your present is still missing!" She put the box into Rohini's hands who tilted her head, curious. "Open it!"

And so Rohini did. Inside was a multitude of pink flowers that looked extremely soft and pleasant. Picking it up, Rohini realised they were forming a belt and a necklace.

"I thought your dress was missing something; I'm sure it would look beautiful with it!" Padma explained before picking up the necklace. "Allow me." She said, standing up behind Rohini and pushing her hair away to tie it up.

"It looks good." Luna agreed.

"And let's not forgot the hair!" Padma said, obviously excited about this little moment.

"Oh no, not the hair." Rohini complained as Padma began to brush her messy locks, making her cringe. "It hurts!"

"Stop complaining, I'm just going to tie it up into a bun." Padma grumbled. "You're a champion; you can't just go with those tangled locks of yours!"

"Thanks, mum." Rohini grumbled between two hisses. Luna was laughing, obviously amused by the situation.

After what felt like hours, Padma finally let go of Rohini.

"Wow." She said, looking at her with her eyes wide opened. "You look…"

"Stupid?" Rohini suggested.

"Beautiful." Padma corrected her.

"Oh. Thanks." Rohini said, blushing.

"Well, off you go, you two." Luna said. "Have fun!"

"See you later, Luna!" The girls said before leaving the dorms.

The castle looked strange, full of people wearing different colours instead of the usual mass of black. A few people did double takes as Rohini walked by, and even a few portraits complimented her look.

The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. The people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another. Parvati, who was waiting with Harry at the foot of the hall stairs, gasped when she spotted the two girls.

"I can't believe you're the same person!" She said to Rohini, amazed. "Padma, you did so well!"

"Don't be so surprised; Rohini does look nice usually, too." Padma said and Parvati was polite enough not to comment on this.

"You look amazing, Harry." Rohini said with a wink and her brother huffed. "Where is Ron?"

"Trying to melt into the ground." Ron's voice said as he joined them, looking quite moody already. Padma lost her smile.

"Hi," she said, not too enthusiastic, her dark eyes lingering on the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and down.

"Hi," said Ron, not looking at her, but staring around at the crowd. "Oh no ..."

He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.

"Where is Hermione?" he said again.

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes the same colour as Harry and was accompanied by Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them had managed to find a partner.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party. Over their heads Rohini saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

A few people gasped as a stunning girl walked towards Rohini with a confident stride, beaming; it was Dana, dressed in a fancy black and ocean blue dress that was covered with fake blue feathers and shining gold jewels.

Rohini couldn't believe how lucky she was to be going to the ball with such a beautiful girl.

"Lilac looks great on you, little saviour." Dana said lightly and Rohini chuckled, complimenting her back.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her.

Cedric and Cho were close to Rohini too but Rohini didn't pay them any attention, for she was waving at the girl standing by Krum's side.

It was Hermione.

But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.

She was also smiling - rather nervously, it was true – but it made her just as beautiful as Padma or Dana.

"Hi, Rohini!" she said. "Hi, Dana!"

"Well, I see someone has chosen their partner well." Dana said to Krum with a wink. "Hi, Hermione."

Fleur was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing.

Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.

Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.

The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

Gulping nervously, Rohini concentrated on not tripping over her feet. Dana seemed to be enjoying herself; she was beaming around at everybody and threw compliments to all of her friends as she walked past them.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely.

The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley and there was no sight of Mr. Crouch, which didn't seem to bother anyone.

When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Rohini. Rohini took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Rohini thought it ought to be fined.

"I've been promoted," Percy said before she could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Wow, congrats!" Rohini said, feeling happy for him; he was doing his best, after all.

There was no food as of yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Dumbledore looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"

And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Rohini ordered a bit of everything and glanced at Hermione to see if she had something to say about S.P.E.W, but it was obviously not the case tonight. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.

It now occurred to Rohini that she had never really heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that.

"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -"

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy... one would almost think you didn't want visitors."

"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and fight to protect them?"

Dana groaned loudly, and Rohini couldn't help but chuckle as Karkaroff glanced at her with a frown.

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies.

"Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course . . . zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat."

She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently. Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Rohini and Dana exchanged a new glance before laughing.

Then, they looked around more closely.

Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Rohini saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight.

Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own."

"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.

"Herm-own-ninny."

"Close enough," she said, catching the girls' eye and grinning.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.

The _Weird Sisters_ now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Rohini, who had been so interested in watching them that she had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.

"Here comes the fun part!" Dana said enthusiastically, taking Rohini's hand and pulling her on her feet.

The _Weird Sisters_ struck up a slow, mournful tune; Rohini walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (she could see Zach and Elliott waving at her and cheering), and the next moment, Dana had seized her hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers.

"Do you mind me leading?" Dana asked.

"Not at all." Rohini lied. Laughing, Dana inverted their position.

"Better?"

"Yeah."

And then, they began to dance. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, Rohini realised, revolving slowly on the spot. Soon, she was even beginning to have fun and before she knew it, she couldn't stop her feet from dancing anymore.

Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby - she could see Ginny wincing frequently as Neville trod on her feet - and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so tall.

Fred and Angelina were dancing so exuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury.

"Your friends don't seem to be having so much fun." Dana suddenly pointed out and looking up, Rohini realised that Harry, Padma, Ron and Parvati were sitting at a table nearby, Ron glaring at Hermione and Krum and Padma was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music.

Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring her.

"Do you mind?" Rohini asked Dana.

"Nope, go and save the day, Rohi." Dana said before letting go of her hands. "I'll go get myself a drink."

"Thanks." Rohini said before making her way to Padma.

"You didn't do too bad." Padma said when she spotted her.

"I had a great teacher." Rohini said and Padma smiled. "I was wondering if you'd like to see how good I am?"

"Is that an invitation to dance?" Padma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It does sound like it." Rohini said with a smile and Padma hurried to take the hand she was offering.

And without another look to Ron, the two of them made their way back to the dancefloor where Dana and Ginny were now dancing just as enthusiastically as Fred and Angelina.

Dancing with Padma was different; first of all, because Rohini was the one leading this time and second, because Rohini would have never expected this moment to happen.

"You're doing well." Padma said, eyes shining with pleasure as Rohini made her turn on herself before catching her waist once more.

"It's all thanks to you." Rohini said and Padma blushed with a little laugh.

And so they danced, and danced, and danced. Rohini barely noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione went missing at one point for she was now dancing with Ginny, then Fred and George, and back to Dana again before ending up with Padma for the final dance.

Everybody who was still here looked exhausted but pleased by their evening, and Dumbledore applauded quite warmly before politely telling them to go to bed.

"This was one evening I will never forget." Padma said as they finally go to bed.

"Yeah, it was much better than I'd thought." Rohini said, smiling tiredly as she untied her hair.

"Told you." Padma said.

"Yeah, you did." Rohini said with a smile.

And as she finally fell asleep at dawn, Rohini realised that it might have been her favourite Christmas Day yet.


	18. Chapter 18

Rohini's first thoughts when she woke up the next day was that she will never stay out so late dancing ever again. In fact, she would have slept for another few days if Padma hadn't insisted that she needed to eat something.

"How about I turn into a bear and hibernate?" Rohini mumbled in her pillow while pushing the blanket back above her head.

"I will only accept this excuse if your Animagus form

actually a bear." Padma said while pulling the blanket away again, unimpressed. "It's already half past noon."

"It's

half past noon." Rohini pointed out before yawning loudly and putting her glasses back on her nose and finally standing up.

Her eyes were all puffy, her hair all over the place and full of knots, and her morning breath was pretty awful since she forgot to brush her teeth when the ball was over. And so,Rohini was doing her best to cover her mouth every time she spoke to Padma.

"How come you look as fresh as a green bean?" Rohini asked her friend as they headed to the Great Hall for lunch. "We went to bed at the same time!"

"I have good genetics." Padma said with a teasing grin and Rohini huffed, gently elbowing her friend.

Looking around, Rohini realised most students –and portraits- looked just as exhausted as her; even the Beauxbatons students that just came through the Main Gates looked slightly less graceful than usual, some not even bothering with hiding their yawns with their hands.

As for the Durmstrang students that were following, none of them were talking and all their usual energy was replaced by a sleepy gaze. Dana was the last one to arrive, her face half hidden by her dreadlocks that she hadn't tied up, and she only gave a weak wave and a tired smile to the girls when she spotted them.

"See? That's how you should be looking right now." Rohini pointed out and Padma huffed with a smile. "It's a universal law: you don't look as beautiful and lively as a flower bloom after a party!"

"Aren't we disturbers of the universe, though?" Padma asked with a knowing smile.

"

." Rohini laughed at this little joke between the two of them.

They had just entered the Great Hall where everybody had puffy eyes and kept dazing off when someone called Rohini's name. It was Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker showing quite the magnificent bed hair that she was trying to tame with her wand.

"Hi, Cho." Rohini said, exchanging a surprised look with Padma: it wasn't often that the older student talked to her. "Is something wrong?"

"Could I talk to you for a moment? It will be short, I promise." She said in a hushed voice, glancing around as if she was worried someone would hear her.

"Sure." Rohini agreed with a nod, her curiosity growing. "I'll join you later." She told Padma before following Cho Chang into the closest corridor where Cho opened a door, checked that no ghost was haunting the room, and nodded at Rohini to come in.

The furniture was quite dusty so they both stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, exchanging nervous smiles until Rohini politely cleaned her throat.

"So…" She tried and Cho bit her lips, as if trying to figure out how to tell her what she wanted to say.

"Actually, I have a message from Cedric. He wanted to tell you himself yesterday but you seemed to be having fun, so he didn't want to bother you." Cho explained and Rohini felt her heartbeats getting faster; could it be that it was about the Tournament?

"Did he hear something about the next task?" Rohini asked, interested.

Once again, Cho looked around as if she expected Crouch to slam the door open and yell at them. But none of this happened, and so she leaned closer to Rohini, talking so low Rohini had to ask her to repeat herself.

"It's about the golden egg, the one you took from the dragon. I'm not supposed to know about it, since I'm not a champion but…" Cho hesitated.

"Don't worry; I won't tell anyone." Rohini assured her. Cho smiled, relieved.

"Ok, so, I don't know how exactly he discovered this, but Cedric told me that if you took a bath with the egg, then you will discover the clue for the next task."

"Sorry, if I what?" Rohini asked, frowning.

"A bath. I- it sounds stupid I know, but you need to take a bath, and bring the egg with you."

"Ah." Said Rohini, not sure of how to react.

Another pregnant pause fell, the two girls dancing from one foot to another.

"Well, thanks for telling me." Rohini finally said with a grateful smile. "I guess a weird clue is better than none. Thank Cedric for me, too."

"I will." Cho promised. "Oh, and if you want some privacy, you might want to use the prefects' bathroom."

"I'm not a prefect." Rohini pointed out. Cho raised her eyebrows, looking amused.

"Aren't you and Harry really good at sneaking around?" She said and Rohini laughed.

"I guess I could figure it out, yeah." She said, opening the door and letting Cho leave first. "Thanks again for the advice."

"You're welcome." Cho Chang said, looking much better now that she had delivered the message.

Of course, when Rohini had promised not to tell anyone, what she had truly mean was "not to tell anyone she didn't trust". And so no later than an hour after Cho Chang's revelation, both her brother and her friends had heard about it.

To her surprise though, the Gryffindor trio didn't seem much interested by that; Harry was still bitter about Cedric going to the ball with Cho Chang and had stopped listening as soon as the Hufflepuff name had been mentioned and both Ron and Hermione said nothing for they were too occupied throwing nasty looks at each other.

When Rohini had taken Hermione aside to talk about it, Hermione had lashed out all the spite she could contain about how Ron was the stupidest boy she had ever met and how he should just have invited her first if he hadn't wanted her to go to the Ball with Krum.

"At least

listens to what I have to say, and doesn't make fun of me for wanting to learn more about the wizardly world, or how I- how I just want to talk about my researches without someone rolling their eyes at me!" Hermione said, out of breath and grunting as the two girls sat on a cold marble step.

"Boys can be dumb, Hermione." Rohini said, gently rubbing her friend's back. "Girls too, obviously, but boys bring a whole new meaning to this word. I'm sure it was Ron's own way of saying 'My brightest friend is dating the best seeker in the world and because I admire them both very much, I got extremely jealous and reacted stupidly'."

Hermione smiled weakly.

"I… I'm not sure the word dating is appropriate. I mean, we did go on a date since we went together to the Yule Ball, and he kissed my hand but Dana did the same with you and you two are not dating… Though I admit, Krum is quite an interesting boy, he is actually very bright."

"And did he agree to join

, too?" Rohini teased her and Hermione huffed, elbowing her between the ribs.

"Heya." Someone said behind them, and they both turned their face to see Ron standing right there, hands in his pockets and looking away awkwardly. Harry was standing next to him, his eyes going from Ron to Hermione quickly.

"Hi again." Rohini said.

"Mind if we sit here, too?" Their friend asked, glancing at Hermione before looking down again.

"Sure, no problem. Right, Hermione?" Rohini asked, looking at Hermione with insistence, trying to remind her of what she had just said.

"No problem at all." Finally said Hermione, and everybody seemed to release the breath they were holding.

"Sorry for not listening to ya earlier, Rohi." Harry apologised. "So, what about the egg?"

Rohini repeated what Cho told her earlier.

"That's… really weird advice." Ron said, looking perplexed. "I mean, do you really have to use the prefect bathroom, on top of that?"

"If taking a bath is mandatory, then yeah; I don't know what the Gryffindors' bathroom looks like, but ours is quite peculiar; we have individual showers, and a sort of long fountain against one of the wall that falls into a long, marble sink. So, no bathtub here."

"Maybe you could just put your head into the sink with the egg." Harry suggested.

"Except if you need to be naked for it to work." Ron said.

"I'm not gonna jump butt naked into the sink where everybody washes their face and teeth!" Rohini said, grimacing at this idea.

"Oh god, let's not talk about any of us naked, please." Hermione begged, covering her ears.

"Yeah, that's… that's kinda disturbing." Harry agreed. "Oh, by the way, did you know that Hagrid was half-giant? We heard him talk about it with Madam Maxime last night."

"She acted all offended, pretending she had no giant blood in her." Ron said, snickering. "As if she is just big boned. Have you seen her? She's like, twice Dumbledore's size!"

"Well, I thought he must be," Hermione said, shrugging. "I knew he couldn't be pure giant because they're about twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about giants!

They can't all be horrible; it's the same sort of prejudice that people have towards werewolves... It's just bigotry, isn't it?"

Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply scathingly, but perhaps he didn't want another row, because he contented himself with shaking his head disbelievingly while Hermione wasn't looking.

"Anyway, maybe you're not wrong, Harry." Rohini suddenly said. "Maybe I could just go put my head underwater with this damn wailing egg, and see if anything happens. Worst case, it was a trick from Cedric to get rid of me and the egg will try to drown me. If it happens, please tell my wife and children I love them."

"Idiot." Said the trio at the same time, slapping her head and arm.

"Alright, sorry to ditch you guys but I'm meeting up with Ginny and Dana in a few minutes so…" Rohini suddenly said, standing up and cracking her bones, making Hermione hiss.

"You're still going for a run? With this weather?" Ron asked, bemused; snow was still thick upon the grounds and they could hear the wind hollering loudly outside.

"No rest for the wicked." Rohini told him. "Need to go and change into an appropriate outfit. See you later!" She said, waving at them as she trotted toward the Ravenclaw Tower where Ginny was already waiting for her, talking with Luna.

"What's up?" Rohini asked. "Hope you're still motivated?"

"Always." Ginny assured her. "You sure you don't want to come with us, Luna?"

"Thanks, but I'd rather read next to the fireplace." Luna said with a smile. "I heard Professor Moody and Neville talk about Herbology a few days ago, and I've decided to borrow one of the books they were talking about."

"Neat." Rohini said. Ginny glanced at Luna's watch.

"Shoot, we're already late. Come on Rohi, hurry up!" She said, pushing Rohini into the girls' dorm.

"Don't fret, I'm sure Dana isn't ready yet!" Rohini grumbled, though she hurried to go change into a pair of running pants she borrowed from Harry and tied up her hair into a ponytail.

"I really need to get a haircut." She sighed while rubbing Thranduil's chin before joining her two friends again.

"Do you know where Padma is?" Luna asked. "I haven't seen her since breakfast."

"She wants to spend the day with Parvati." Rohini said. "Since they couldn't spend the winter holidays at home, they want to have a little moment for themselves."

"I see." Luna said, nodding. "Well, good luck with your run! I will see you at lunch!"

"Thanks, good luck with your reading, too!" The girls said before heading to the Main Gates where Dana arrived at the same time as them.

"Professor Karkaroff was giving us a lecture about sharing too much information with the adversary schools." She explained, looking quite moody. "Talk about being a mood killer."

"Let's get going and forget about it." Ginny said lightly. The castle's grounds were deserted, everybody sitting around the fireplace or wrapped in thick blankets inside.

While they stretched, Rohini repeated once more what Cho Chang had told her about the golden egg.

"Well, you'll lose nothing trying." Ginny admitted.

"Maybe the next task will be related to water, then." Dana said and the three girls turned their head to look at the frozen lake; if the second task was related to water, then the lake was the most obvious setting; magic or not, Rohini doubted Dumbledore would buy a gigantic aquarium for the champions to swim in.

"I don't like it." Rohini said, frowning, as they started to job.

"Don't like what?" Dana asked.

"Swimming. I- I'm not a very good swimmer, and I have a very bad memory about the pool; that's how I lost most of my hearing." Rohini explained.

"Ah." Dana just said, and the three of them kept running in a good, identical rhythm, sometimes tripping because of a hidden hole or a nasty root under the snow, laughing lightly while helping the other to stand up again and even getting into a little snowball battle at the end, joined by the Weasley Twins who were somehow always around when that kind of thing happened.

"So." Luna began while the three of them were sitting by the hearth; the common room deserted except from two fifth years asleep on their homework. Luna was playing with Rohini's hair and Rohini was doing the same with Padma, whose head was lying on her lap. "What are you going to do about the egg?"

"Follow Cho's advice, of course. I mean, sure Cedric is a Hufflepuff and Hogwarts' second champion, but I trust him. Plus, Cho is a Ravenclaw too so even if she's dating Cedric, she wouldn't want me to lose by giving me fake news, right?"

"True." Luna nodded.

"The question is, how and when?" Padma asked, opening her eyes to look at Rohini.

"Hmm…" Rohini hummed, glancing at the clock; it was past curfew and she would get in trouble if she got caught. But then, she had been feeling quite excited the whole day about the egg's mystery and she was just as impatient as Harry when it came to mysterious things.

"You're thinking about something unruly, I can feel it." Padma said, a little smile on her lips.

"Look at this, Luna, we have a new Professor Trelowney with us." Rohini teased and Luna huffed, amused by her two friends. "You got me there."

"It's already late though." Padma said, glancing at the clock, too. "How about you wake up earlier tomorrow and use the bathroom first?"

"Waking up earlier? Me?" Rohini said, bemused. "No way."

"You could use the map." Luna said absently.

"What?"

"The Map; the one Fred and George gave to you, last year."

"Oh!" Rohini gasped, clapping her fingers. "Luna, you're a genius! I forgot I had it, somewhere!"

Jumping on her feet, Rohini didn't wait for her friend and ran out of the Common Room and straight to the dorm where she went through her trunk, ignoring the other sleepy girls cursing at all the noise she was making.

"Found it!" Rohini said in triumph as she found the map folded between two pages of her

book.

"So, are you going tonight?" Padma asked, standing behind her.

"Do you want to come with me?" Rohini asked. Padma shook her head.

"Champions aren't supposed to get help from other students, remember? It might get you in trouble if we're caught up together with your egg in hand."

"True." Rohini sighed, slightly disappointed. Then, she took her wand and tapped the old parchment. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Lines appeared on the blank piece of paper, forming a complete map of Hogwarts and its grounds. Not only that, but Rohini could see everybody in the castle and where they were standing up.

"It will never cease to amaze me." Rohini said and Padma nodded. "Well, time to go, then."

Rohini picked up the egg with a grunt, putting her wand behind her ear and holding the map with her other hand.

"Rohini-" Padma said, taking Rohini's arm as if ready to say something, but seemed to decide against it. "Just, be careful."

"Always." Rohini said quietly, before taking her leave.

Maybe it was because everybody, ghosts included, had been exhausted today, but the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Rohini was able to ensure that she wouldn't run into anyone she wanted to avoid.

A warm, steamy bath in the prefects' bathroom would have been quite welcome with such cold temperatures but Rohini decided to use the Ravenclaw bathroom instead; better work with a familiar environment.

The door creaked open. Rohini slipped inside, bolted the door behind her, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around.

There was something slightly eerie in the air that night, and Rohini realised it was probably due to the unusual quietness; since she woke up quite late most of the time, Rohini was used to the bathroom being crowded and loud, with people chatting about their dreams while brushing their teeth or asking someone to give them a towel while showering.

But tonight, there was not a single whisper; only the sound of the little waterfall falling into the long sink, with the moonlight coming from the oculus in the middle of the ceiling reflecting on the water surface. It was the only source of light.

Rohini left the map and her wand on top of a drawer and walked toward the sink, playfully testing the water with her fingers. It was cooler than usual, probably magically adapting the temperature to the hours of influence or something.

"Now, what?" Rohini asked her reflection. She hadn't been waiting for an answer and she almost jumped out of her skin with a yelp when someone spoke behind her.

"I'd try putting it in the water, if I were you."

"Myrtle!" Rohini said accusingly, one hand over her chest as she stared at the ghost of a very glum looking girl sitting cross-legged on top of the towel holding furniture in the centre of the room. It was Moaning Myrtle, who was usually heard sobbing in the S-bend of a toilet three floors below.

"You and Harry haven't been to see me for ages." She said, not even trying to hide the bitterness in her voice.

"I like the first floor's toilets better." Rohini lied. "Those are cleaner. Always has toilet paper. Can't say the same about yours. And Harry is a boy, he isn't allowed in girls' bathroom; Flinch would kill him if he spotted him coming out of them."

"He didn't used to care," said Myrtle miserably. "You used to be in there all the time."

This was true, though only because they had found Myrtle's out-of-order toilets a convenient place to brew Polyjuice Potion in secret - a forbidden potion that had turned their second year selves into living replicas of Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson for an hour, so that they could sneak into the Slytherin common room.

"Well... anyway... I'd try the egg in the water. That's what Cedric Diggory did." Myrtle told her.

"How do you know that? Don't tell me you have been spying on the prefects taking baths?!" Rohini said, though she wasn't half surprised.

"Sometimes," said Myrtle, rather slyly, "but I've also heard his girlfriend –the Asian girl- talk about it with him while they were standing in front of my bathroom's door."

"I see." Rohini only said, dancing from one foot to another.

"Go on, then ... open it under the water!"

Shaking her head, Rohini lowered the egg beneath the foamy surface and opened it; this time, it did not wail. A gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words she couldn't distinguish through the water.

"You need to put your head under too," said Myrtle, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying bossing her around. "Go on!"

"Yeah, yeah, give me a break." Rohini mumbled before taking a great breath and slid under the surface, her head next to the open egg.

Rohini wasn't sure what she had been expecting from this, but it certainly wasn't to hear a chorus of eerie voices singing to her from the opened, glittering egg:

Rohini's head emerged again, the girl shaking her hair out of her eyes while spitting water.

"Hear it?" said Myrtle.

"Yeah ... 'Come seek us where our voices sound ...' and if I need persuading ... hang on, I need to listen again..."

She sank back beneath the water. It took three more underwater renditions of the egg's song before Rohini had it memorized; then she grabbed a towel to dry her hair and sat on the marble floor, thinking hard, while Myrtle sat and watched her.

"Alright, so… the task is obviously going to be underwater, and I'm pretty sure it means it will take place in the lake…" Rohini said, playing with her pyjama sleeves. "I'm not really happy about it, but whatever, beggars can't be choosers."

"And…?" Myrtle encouraged her. Rohini shushed her with her finger, not looking up at her.

"Underwater creatures… Grindylows, the giant squid, fishes, mer…mermaids!" Rohini shouted, eyes opened wide. "Wait, are we supposed to fight mermaids?

?" She said, sounding slightly panicked. Moaning Myrtle snorted.

"Did you expect to fight mermaids on the ground?"

"That's not it." Rohini said shortly. "I just don't like swimming and the lake is very large, and very deep… how am I even supposed to breathe underwater without dying?"

Rohini realised too late what she said when Myrtle's eyes filled with sudden tears again.

"Tactless!" she muttered, groping in her robes for a handkerchief. "Talking about breathing in front of me!" she said shrilly, and her voice echoed loudly around the bathroom. "When I can't… when I haven't… not for ages..."

She buried her face in her handkerchief and sniffed loudly. Rohini crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping Filch would not be alerted by Myrtle's tantrum.

"Sorry," she said impatiently. "I didn't mean - I just forgot. . ."

"Oh yes, very easy to forget Myrtle's dead," said Myrtle, gulping, looking at her out of swollen eyes. "Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours and hours to find my body - I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom - Are you in here again, sulking, Myrtle?' she said, 'because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you -' And then she saw my body… ooooh, she didn't forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that... followed her around and reminded her, I did; I remember at her brother's wedding -"

But Rohini wasn't listening; she was thinking about the merpeople's song again. "We've taken what you'II sorely miss." That sounded as though they were going to steal something of hers, something she had to get back. What were they going to take?

A bell rang somewhere and Rohini realised she should probably go back to bed now; she was too tired to think about it any further. Picking up the egg and the map, she headed toward the door.

"Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again sometime?" Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully.

"Maybe. I will remember to bring toilet paper with me if I do." Rohini said absently. "Goodbye, Myrtle."

"Bye bye," she said gloomily, and as Rohini took her leave, she saw her dive into the sink with a loud splash.

Out in the dark corridor, Rohini examined the Marauders Map to check that the coast was still clear. Yes, the dots belonging to Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris, were safely in their office and nothing else seemed to be moving apart from Peeves, though he was bouncing around the trophy room on the floor above; Rohini had taken her first step back toward Gryffindor Tower when something else on the map caught her eyes, something distinctly odd.

Peeves was not the only thing that was moving. A single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom left-hand corner – Snape's office. But the dot wasn't labelled "Severus Snape"... it was Bartemius Crouch.

Rohini stared at the dot. Mr. Crouch was supposed to be too ill to go to work or to come to the Yule Ball - so what was he doing, sneaking into Hogwarts at one o'clock in the morning? Rohini watched closely as the dot moved around and around the room, pausing here and there.

Rohini was a smart girl. But even smart people made dumb decisions sometimes and so she turned and set off in the opposite direction toward the nearest staircase. Somehow, it didn't seem to hit her that unlike her and Harry's usual wandering through the castle, she wasn't wearing the Invisibility Cloak this time.

She crept along the corridor below, pushed aside a tapestry about halfway along, and proceeded down a narrower staircase, a shortcut that would take her down two floors.

She kept glancing down at the map, wondering... It just didn't seem in character, somehow, for correct, law-abiding Mr. Crouch to be sneaking around somebody else's office this late at night. Could Snape have gotten into trouble? The thought pleased her, somehow.

And then, halfway down the staircase, not thinking about what he was doing, not concentrating on anything but the peculiar behaviour of Mr. Crouch, Rohini's leg suddenly sank right through the trick step Neville always forgot to jump.

She gave an ungainly wobble, and the golden egg, still damp from the sink, slipped from under her arm. It fell down the long staircase with a bang as loud as a bass drum on every step and Rohini closed her eyes and took a deep breath, silently cursing.

The golden egg fell through the tapestry at the bottom of the staircase, burst open, and began wailing loudly in the corridor below. Rohini pulled out her wand from behind her ear and struggled to touch the Marauder's Map, to wipe it blank, and began to run after the egg, but almost immediately –

"PEEVES!"

It was the unmistakable hunting cry of Filch the caretaker. Panicked, Rohini could hear his rapid, shuffling footsteps coming nearer and nearer, his wheezy voice raised in fury.

"What's this racket? Wake up the whole castle, will you? I'll have you, Peeves, I'll have you, you'll... and what is this?"

Filch's footsteps halted; there was a clink of metal on metal and the wailing stopped -Filch had picked up the egg and closed it. Rohini stood very still, one leg still Jammed tightly in the magical step, listening. Any moment now, Filch was going to pull aside the tapestry, expecting to see Peeves... and there would be no Peeves…

"Egg?" Filch said quietly at the foot of the stairs. "My sweet!" - Mrs. Norris was obviously with him - "This is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion!"

Rohini bit her lips, wimping nervously, knowing what was coming.

"PEEVES!" Filch roared gleefully. "You've been stealing!"

He ripped back the tapestry below, and Rohini saw his horrible, pouchy face and bulging, pale eyes comically opening wide as he saw a guilty Rohini standing right here, awkwardly smiling, her hair all over the place and obviously still humid.

"Hi." She said as casually as possible. "Pleasant night to take a shower, isn't this?"

But before Flich could answer, another problem showed the tip of their nose.

"Filch? Whats going on?"

Rohini covered her face with her hands, desperate. At the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could make Rohini's situation worse: Snape. He was wearing a long gray nightshirt and he looked livid.

"A student out of bed, Professor," Filch whispered malevolently while grabbing Rohini's arm with a firm grip, probably fearing she'd escape. Rohini hurried to hide the map into her pocket; Snape knew about the map, and it would do her no good if he caught her in possession of it. "A champion, nonetheless! She threw this egg down the stairs."

Snape climbed up the stairs quickly and stopped beside Filch, his eyes shining malevolently when they recognised Rohini. The young girl gulped.

"Potter." He spat with so much venom in his voice Rohini feared she'd get poisoned. "Of course. Only you would dare to get into my office-"

"This egg was in your office, Professor?"

"Of course not," Snape snapped. "I heard banging and wailing -"

"Yes, Professor, that was the egg -"

"- I was coming to investigate and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it! And this someone could only have been Potter or one of her little friends!"

"That wasn't me!" Rohini shouted, remembering Crouch's wanderings.

"Liar!" Snape spat.

"That's not a lie! I was in the Ravenclaw's bathroom!" Rohini said angrily, pointing at her hair. "See? Ask Moaning Myrtle if you don't believe me, she-"

"Silence, Potter!" Snape ordered. "I seal my office with a spell no one but a wizard could break! Enough of-"

Snape stopped talking very abruptly. He and Filch both looked down at the foot of the stairs. Rohini tip toed around to get a look above their shoulders just in time to see Mad-Eye Moody limping into sight through the narrow gap between their heads. Moody was wearing his old traveling cloak over his nightshirt and leaning on his staff as usual.

"Pajama party, is it?" he growled up the stairs. Rohini snorted.

"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," said Filch at once. "I thought it was Peeves, but it turned out Potter had broken into Professor Snape's off -"

"Shut up!" Snape hissed to Filch.

Moody took a step closer to the foot of the stairs. Rohini saw Moody's magical eye travel over Snape, and then, unmistakably, onto herself.

The scene must have been comical:

Snape in his nightshirt, Filch clutching the egg and Rohini's arm, and she, Rohini, trapped in the stair behind them. Moody's lopsided gash of a mouth opened in surprise.

Then Moody closed his mouth and turned his blue eye upon Snape again.

"Did I hear that correctly, Snape?" he asked slowly. "Potter broke into your office?"

"It is unimportant," said Snape coldly. "What matters is that Potter was out of-"

"On the contrary," growled Moody, "it is very important. Why would she want to break into your office?"

"It wasn't me, I was in the Ravenclaw bathroom!" Rohini pleaded. The three men ignored her.

"Potter, I daresay, has no boundaries when it comes to robbing my private cupboard." said Snape, throwing a nasty glance at Rohini. She could see a vein flickering horribly on Snape's greasy temple. "It has happened before. Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard ... students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt... And I am pretty sure it was all of Potter and her friends' doing."

"So she was after potion ingredients, eh?" said Moody. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"

Rohini saw the edge of Snape's sallow face turn a nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly.

"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."

Rohini gasped.

Moody's face twisted into a smile. "Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye -"

"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"

"Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me - I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"

Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.

Moody laughed. "Get back to bed, Snape."

"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"

"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time... You've dropped something, by the way… But for now, I think the one person that needs her bed the most is Miss Potter."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna-"Rohini began, pointing in the opposite direction but Filch refused to let her go.

"This student was out of bed." He said slowly, his grip getting firmer. "It's my duty to make sure she will-"

"Let it go, you fossil." Moody cut him with a grunt. "Potter! Follow me."

Rohini pulled on her arm to free herself and got her leg out of the trap, then grabbed her golden egg out of Filch's fingers.

"Thanks for picking it up." She said before running after Mad-Eye, not daring to look at Snape whose anger was palpable in the air.

Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. Norris and left, muttering "Never mind. my sweet.. . we'll see Dumbledore in the morning ... tell him what Potter was up to..."

Rohini followed Moody in silence, the two of them taking the long way back to the top of the Ravenclaw Tower. (The Ravenclaw Bathroom was, just like the rest of the Houses' bathrooms, in another part of the castle).

"Close shave, Potter," Moody suddenly muttered. Rohini didn't answer. "What's that, in your pocket?"

"Huh?" Rohini said, before glancing down at the map. "Oh, just a piece of parchment." She lied.

"And why would you got just a piece of parchment in your pocket, Potter?" Mad-Eye asked. Rohini didn't like his tone.

"I just thought it might come in handy. With the egg, I mean." She said, nodding at the golden egg she was carrying. "I thought that if I figured out it's secret, I might have to write down the clue to get it memorised."

Moody stared at her and Rohini did her best to look as calm and composed as she could. They were now standing at the bottom of the Ravenclaw Tower's staircase, and Rohini caught a glimpse of the Grey Lady before she disappeared behind the wall.

"Smart girl, ain't you?" Moody suddenly said with a grunt. "Nothing like a night time stroll to give you ideas, Potter… I suppose a good bath help to think, too…"

"It sure does, yeah." Rohini said shortly. "Goodnight, Professor. Thanks for the help."

Moody grunted and Rohini took it as a sign that she could take her leave.

As she climbed the stair, she could feel Moody's eye following her until she reached the dorm's door, giving her a disagreeable tickling sensation that the hair at the nape of her neck stand on end. Somehow, Rohini could tell it had been wise not to tell Moody the truth about the map.

Everybody was asleep when she slipped under her warm blanket, except for Thranduil who purred as she let him climb on her back. She grimaced as the cat began to knead her back, his sharp claws scratching her skin through her pyjamas.

"You're merciless, Thrand." She mumbled, trying to empty her mind in order to fall asleep.

Still, she stayed awake for one more hour, lost in thought about Snape, and Crouch, and what it all meant. Why was Crouch pretending to be ill, if he could manage to get to Hogwarts when he wanted to? What did he think Snape was concealing in his office? And what were the merpeople going to steal from her?

It was way too many questions and too few answers for her liking.


	19. Chapter 19

_Dear Professor Lupin,_

 _I hope you are doing well. Did you receive my chocolate box for Christmas? I hope you liked them all._

 _I apologise for asking for your help even though you aren't our teacher anymore, but I'm in great need of assistance. I know that you have a wonderful knowledge about underwater creatures, and I was wondering if, perhaps, you knew if merpeople have kleptomaniac tendencies._

 _Would you also happen to know how to convince them to give you back what they stole without having to join them at the bottom of a lake?_

 _I'm obviously just asking out of curiosity and without any second thoughts in mind. ,_

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Rohini Potter_

Licking the envelope lid before closing it, Rohini turned to Hedwig who was waiting patiently on her perch, next to Padma's owl that seemed to be asleep.

"Ready for a potentially long delivery?" She asked her brother's owl who hooted and seemed to beam her feathers in pride. Laughing, Rohini tied up her letter to Hedwig's leg before gently caressing the top of her head.

"Do your best, then; I hope Professor Lupin will have the answers to my questions…"

Hedwig hooted again before gracefully flying off into the thick mist that was floating upon Hogwarts' grounds.

Taking off her glasses to clean them, Rohini thought about all that have happened in the past few days: that dreadful night when she found herself stuck between Filch, Snape and Mad-Eye after discovering part of the mystery surrounding the second task, telling her friends about it, spending afternoons with them at the library to finish their homework and try to find some clues, finding out the nasty newspaper article Rita Skeeter had written about Hagrid's giant heritage, making him too ashamed to attempt his classes…

"Life is hard." Rohini sighed, putting her glasses back on top of her nose and taking the stairs back to the bottom of the Owlery at a really slow pace to avoid slipping on the frozen steps; now wasn't the time to break a leg or two.

As she passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, Rohini saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.

"What the heck?!" Rohini shouted, sprinting towards the lake; what was he thinking? The thermal temperature difference could kill him! Rohini had just reached the lake bank that Krum's head emerged from the dark surface.

"Are you ok?" Rohini asked worryingly; Victor's skin was paler than usual now, so pale Rohini could see his veins. The boy seemed surprised to see her there, probably thinking he would be the only one bold enough to face the icy cold wind.

Swimming towards Rohini, he took another quick dive under water before emerging right in front of her, soaked wet and his skin covered in goosebumps.

"Are you ok?" Rohini asked again. Victor nodded, staring at Rohini with a frown.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his accent making it sounds a bit like an accusation. Rohini's shoulders slouched a bit as she looked away nervously.

"I was just sending a letter to- to an old friend. Our Owlery is right there." She said, pointing at the tower barely visible from the mist. "I was going back to the castle, when I saw you jump, and panicked."

"Why?" Krum asked, looking a bit confused.

"Because it's, like, really cold?" Rohini pointed out. "Your body could have reacted poorly to the temperature difference, don't you think?"

"It's a lot colder where I come from." Krum said, and Rohini realised it was the first time they had a real conversation.

"Oh, yeah, you have a frozen lake at Durmstrang, right?" Rohini said, remembering her conversation with Dana during one of their runs. "It must be nice for ice-skating."

Victor nodded, and Rohini thought she saw the ghost of a smile on his face for a moment before the Seeker sneezed loudly, making Rohini puff.

"Good luck fighting the not-so-cold weather, then." She said before turning on her heels and walking back to the castle while Krum dived into the lake once more, the splashing sound filling the air for a moment before an eerie silence fell upon the grounds once more.

The hall was crowded with students for today was one of the annual trips to Hogsmeade.

"Miss Potter, hurry up and join the ranks!" Barked Professor McGonagall when she spotted her. Rohini walked towards the end of the queue where her friends where and Padma asked her in hushed tones if she had sent her letter already.

"I did! I also saw Krum taking dives into the lake on my way back. That's crazy…"

"He is probably training for you-know-what." Padma said, glancing at Professor McGonagall to make sure she didn't hear them.

"Still, that's pretty cool." Ginny said, impressed. "I mean, the only way to make me swim into this lake when it's bloody cold would be to pay me a thousand galleons."

"Same." Rohini agreed as everybody started to move forwards. "What about you, Luna?"

"I wouldn't mind visiting the Giant Squid, but only in summer." Luna said. "I tried to swim in the Lock Ness when dad and I went to Scotland, but it was too cold to be enjoyable."

"I will forever be jealous that you went there." Rohini sighed, dreamily imagining herself riding Nessie's back while the creature lead her into the non-existent Scottish sunset.

Once they reached High Street, groups began to form as friends took different directions. Rohini told Harry she and the girls will met them at the Three Broomsticks later, and the girls set off to Honeydukes were they filled their pockets with all kind of candies.

Ginny and Rohini made a silly bet about eating one of the lollipops made for vampires and eat one under Padma's disgusted gaze and Luna's amused smile.

Then, Rohini announced that she wanted to go to the hairdressing salon that stood between Ceridwen's Cauldrons and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. The girls followed her inside where a plumy black woman with a deep, beautiful voice welcomed them. When her eyes fell upon Rohini, her smile seemed to get even brighter, so bright it could light up the whole world.

"You wouldn't happen to be Rohini Potter, dearie?"

"Err, yes, I am." Rohini said, hoping the witch wasn't one of the twins' secret admirers. The woman – Ruby judging by the tag on her robe- made a delighted noise.

"I've heard a lot about you! My son is also a Ravenclaw, you see- Zachariah, he's in fourth year too- and let me tell you, you're a great source of inspiration for him!"

"Oh." Rohini said, blushing; she hadn't expected this turn of situation. "I- he's a cool guy. Smart, too."

"Charlotte, I will take care of young Miss Potter!" Ruby said to her colleague, a buffy woman that was taking off hair stuck on a comb. She raised her head, nodded, and went back to her comb.

"Alright dearie, take a sit and tell me what you want." Said Ruby before gesturing to the closest couch. "Your friends can sit here! Would you like something to drink? Or something to read, perhaps?"

Rohini felt instantly more relaxed; Ruby was a really wonderful woman, she could tell. No wonder Zachariah was such a nice boy, with such a mother. Ruby, who had disappeared for a moment and came back with a plate of biscuits and followed by a floating steamy teacup and cups, came back and put everything on the table in front of the girls.

"Here, just relax dearies." She said before turning to Rohini. "Now, what would you like to do with your hair?"

"Well, I actually think they are too long now, so I'd like to have them short again." Rohini explained. Ruby hummed, turned around her, passed a hand in Rohini's hair and took a closer look at the curls, before nodding again.

"Alright dearie, I will make sure you'll leave this salon with the haircut of your dreams."

"Thanks." Rohini said, relaxed and beaming; she had an entire trust into this woman.

"Let's do this, then." Ruby said, cracking her fingers with a knowing smile on her face.

When they entered the crowded _Three Broomsticks_ , Rohini felt like she was suddenly weighting nothing, as if cutting her hair had lift a weird weight off her chest. Ruby had done a marvellous job, and Rohini couldn't stop passing her hand through the short locks that felt incredibly smooth now.

"Hey, peeps." She said as she and her friends sat at Harry's table where he, Ron and Hermione were already sitting in front of their Butterbeer. Ron, who had been drinking when the girls arrived, began to choke.

"Blimey Rohini, what happened to your hair?" He asked, eyes wide open, as Hermione gently patted his back.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Rohini asked, grinning proudly. "I was so tired of having them all over my face!"

"It suits you." Harry said with a smile.

"Thanks! If you ever feel like cutting yours, you should definitely go there and ask for Ruby- she's Zach's mother."

"She was a real delight." Padma nodded.

"She even offered us tea and biscuits." Luna added.

"And the prices are pretty good." Ginny finished.

"Zachariah's mum? She might know how to take care of my kind of hair then." Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, exchanging a confused look with Ron.

"Well, sometimes white people aren't really used to take care of this." Hermione explained, pointing at her bushy hair. "So I usually never go to a hairdressing salon and let my aunt take care of them for me when she comes to visit."

"I see." Ron said, raising his eyebrows before tugging lightly at his hair. "I'm glad they are just as they are, then."

"You too, need a haircut." Ginny pointed out.

"Thanks, Ginny." Ron said, deadpan.

"We saw Bagman earlier." Harry said, cutting the sibling bickering off. "He seemed to be in trouble with the goblins."

"They still haven't heard about Bertha Jorkins." Hermione said, looking grave. "It's really weird, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and Crouch is apparently missing, too." Ron said.

"Really? But I saw his name on the Marauders Map last time!" Rohini said in a quieter voice.

"I think something wrong is happening at the Ministry right now." Padma said, looking grim. "Mum seems to think it, too; she has been one of the Aurors looking for Jorkins, but they can't find a single clue, not even the tiniest fingerprint or something."

"Uh-oh," said Ron, staring at the door. Rohini followed his gaze, and cursed.

Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today; her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby. She was talking fast and looking very satisfied about something.

"... didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights... what nonsense... he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman . . .' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo - we just need to find a story to fit it -"

"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" said Harry loudly.

A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jeweled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.

"Harry!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join- ?"

"He wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Rohini furiously. Rita lost her smile when she saw her and sneered.

"Would you look at that: did something happen to your hair, my dear? What a dreadful look for a champion-"

"The only dreadful thing here is your ugly, nasty, perverse personality." Harry spat, a protective hand on Rohini's shoulder. "Go on, which one of us are you planning to spit venom about in your next article? You sure had fun, writing all those lies about Hagrid."

The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.

Rita Skeeters smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"

Hermione stood up very abruptly, her Butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.

"You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman -"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl... not that it needs it -" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.

"You little-"Rohini began before grabbing Ron's empty chop and throwing it at Rita's face, making everybody in the pub yell. Rita shrieked and took cover behind her photographer who snapped a picture of Rohini.

"Let's go." Padma said quickly and they all hurried to leave the pub with a quick apology to Miss Rosmerta.

"She'll be after you next, Hermione," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street. "After you, too, Rohini."

"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid ..."

"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ginny nervously. "We're serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you -"

"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione.

The last time they had seen Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy around the face. "And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"

"I'll see you guys later!" Rohini told her friends before she, Harry and Ron broke into a run and went after Hermione who led them all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin.

The curtains were still drawn, and they could hear Fang barking as they approached.

"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being -"

The door opened. Hermione said, "About t-!" and then stopped, very suddenly, because she had found herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at them.

"We-er-we wanted to see Hagrid," said Hermione in a rather small voice.

"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"

"Oh . . . um ... okay," said Hermione.

They went into the cabin; Fang launched himself upon Ron the moment he entered, barking madly and trying to lick his ears. Ron fended off Fang with a "eww".

Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked a real mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and he had gone to the other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of tangled wire.

"Oh, Hagrid." Rohini said, giving her friend a tiny hug.

"'Lo," Hagrid said in a very hoarse voice.

"More tea, I think," said Dumbledore, closing the door behind them before drawing out his wand, and twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared in midair along with a plate of cakes. Dumbledore magicked the tray onto the table, and everybody sat down. There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"

Hermione went slightly pink, but Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "It seems your friends still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."

"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow - sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.

"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling. Rohini and Ron snorted.

"Er-right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant-Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that-woman-wrote about you?"

Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard. Rohini patted his arm.

"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it -"

"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan me ter stay."

"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"

"Yeh - yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.

"Hagrid, look what we've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"

"An excellent point," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery..."

"Neat." Rohini mumbled.

"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."

Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard.

Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fangs ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione and Rohini kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore, great man . .."

"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"

"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Ar, he's righ', o' course - yeh're all righ' . . .I bin stupid . .. my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'..." More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here..."

Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth - he looked hardly older than eleven.

"Tha was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed ... thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum ... well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really... but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year-Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job. Gives 'em second chances ... tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent."

"That's not necessary a good thing." Rohini mumbled, remembering Tom Riddle. Harry elbowed her.

"- 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that."

"Huuuuh…" Rohini said, exchanging a glance with her friends: Hagrid was obviously talking about Madame Maxime, for sure.

"Yeh know wha, Harry, Rohi'?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it... an' now look at yeh! School champion and Gryffindor's seeker!"

The twins exchanged a pleased smile, blushing a bit.

"Yeh know what I'd love, Rohini?" Hagrid began, looking quite serious suddenly. "I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all... yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic."

"I will." Rohini promised, her throat feeling a bit tight.

Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile.

"Tha's my girl. . . you show 'em, Rohi', you show 'em. Beat 'em all."

And for the first time since her name came off the Goblet of Fire, Rohini decided that she, indeed, was going to win this tournament for her friends, for her brother, and for herself.

"I've sent a letter to Sirius about Crouch breaking into Snape s office, and the conversation between Moody and Snape's that you've heard." Harry suddenly said as the four of them walked back to the castle, the mist so thick now they couldn't see further than the tip of their nose.

"Have you? Good, I completely forgot to do so." Rohini sighed.

"I'm sure Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!" Ron said for the third time that week.

"Oh Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head sceptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember? Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit -"

\- evil." Rohini finished shortly. "Hermione, we all know Dumbledore can be as sly as a Slytherin. Trust me, I'm sure that he does have reasons to keep Snape close to him, but that might be for a more serious purpose than just "give nasty people a chance to be nasty to poor innocent children.""

"Let's stop thinking about it for now." Harry said quickly. "Have you find a solution about how to stay underwater for an hour?" He asked his sister, who sighed.

"Nope, not at all. Hope Professor Lupin will be able to help me there."

"So do I." Harry said. "So do I."

They didn't talk about it for the rest of the day, though both topics were occupying their mind as they eat a warm and quite welcomed meal for dinner.


	20. Chapter 20

Rohini was awoken the next morning by Padma's loud coughs; it seemed that her best friend had caught a bad cold while at Hogsmeade the previous day.

"I'm good, don't worry about it." Said Padma with a weak smile before coughing louder.

"You're definitely not good." Rohini said with a worried frown. "You should stay in bed today. I will give you my notes, don't worry about that."

"What? No!" Padma said, trying to get up but Rohini pushed her back and pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Rohini, I'm not five anymore, I think I can handle a little cold!"

"Don't pull a Hermione on me and just rest for today!" Rohini scolded her. "You've been working really hard lately; you need to take care of yourself more."

"You're the one to talk." Padma mumbled and Rohini huffed before gently pinching her nose.

"Do it for me?" She tried and Padma seemed ready to keep arguing but gave up.

"You better takes neater notes than usual, though; your handwriting is terrible."

"Yes ma'am." Rohini said before giving Padma a quick kiss on the forehead. "See you later."

It's only when she reached the Great Hall that Rohini realised what she had just done, and she could feel her cheeks getting warmer; it had seemed like a natural thing to do, on the instant.

"Hi Luna." She said as she sat next to her friend, who was already up and her nose burried in the new Quibbler special.

"Hello." Said Luna, raising her head and looking around. "I can't see Padma. Is she ok?"

"Caught a little cold, actually. I forced her to stay in bed." Rohini explained while grabbing the plate of toasts Luna was handing her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I hope she will be alright."

"So do I." Rohini sighed. "I mean, she could always go see Madam Pomfrey if it get worst, but…"

"I understand." Luna said with one of her gentle smiles as she put her hand on top of Rohini's. "It's hard not to worry too much when you care for someone, sometimes."

Rohini smiled back and gently squeezed Luna's hand before looking down to The Quibbler.

"Anything good?" She asked.

They spent the rest of the breakfast reading the articles together and were surprised to find an interview of Professor Lupin at the end, their former DADA teacher explaining what Grindylows were:

 _A Grindylow is a small, horned, pale-green water demon and a Dark creature._ _Aggressive towards witches, wizards and muggles alike, the Grindylow has only ever been tamed by merpeople; the half-fish water dwellers who sometimes keep them as pets._

 _Grindylows survive, for the most part, on fish, algae, and small sea creatures; however, occasionally they will eat humans; a Grindylow has long, brittle fingers which despite their fragility are rather strong. The trick to escaping a Grindylow is to break their grip on a person; it can also be noted that the Revulsion Jinx may help with this task, as underwater it shoots jets of boiling hot water._

"The _Revulsion Jinx_ , right; I forgot about this one." Rohini said, scratching her nape. "I need to remember it; could be useful for the second task."

"Do you want to borrow it?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind?" Rohini said. Luna shook her head. "Thank you. Well, need to go, I have Herbology with the Slytherins…"

"Good luck." Padma said. Rohini stood up and waved at Dana who smiled at her brightly from the Slytherin table.

The snow had gotten thicker and it took Rohini twice as much time as usual to reach the greenhouse number 3. Glancing at Hagrid's hut, she was glad to see that the curtains were opened; it probably meant that Hagrid was feeling much better now.

Everybody had a red nose and red ears when they finally came inside.

"Alright everybody. Today, we're going to work with Schreechsnaps." Said Professor Sprout. "Now, I will assign you to a partner before starting."

Most of the students groaned; they'd rather paired up by themselves. Professor Sprout rubbed her gloved hands together, looking at each of them.

"Alright, Miss Parkinson and Mr. O'Maley, go stand up behind that pot over here. Yes, the yellow one, that's it. Now, Miss Potter and- where is Miss Patil?" Professor Sprout asked, looking around as if Padma was hiding behind a plant.

"She was feeling sick this morning." Rohini explained.

"Ah." Professor Sprout said. "Well, Mr. Malfoy will do, then. Go stand up behind that blue pot with the little pink dots on it."

"What?!" Rohini said, exchanging a disgusted glance with Malfoy. "No way!"

"I refuse to work with Potter." Malfoy spat. Professor Spout raised an eyebrow.

"I'm certain I didn't ask for your opinion, Mr. Malfoy. You will pair up with Miss Potter because I said so. Now, move away, you're not the only students in this class."

A few people snorted as Rohini and Draco furiously walked to the blue and pink pot where an ugly magical plant was moving and making noise.

"Look, it's as ugly as your personality." Rohini said, low enough for Professor Sprout to miss it. Malfoy's eyes glowed dangerously, his jaw tensing as he seemed to clench his wand in his pocket.

"Funny, coming from the ugliest person in this greenhouse." Malfoy spat in a low voice before glancing at Rohini's hair. "And what is that, exactly? Trying to win the prize of worst hair ever? Doubt you can surpass Granger though."

"Oh no, what a powerful comeback, Malfoy! I'm so hurt I might just cry." Rohini said with a sneer, pretending to whip away tears.

Professor Sprout clapped her hands to catch everybody's attention, cutting Malfoy's answer short.

"Now, about Schreechsnaps: as "semi-sentient" plants, they have the ability to feel both pain and pleasure. An excessive amount of dragon manure on your tray of Schreechsnaps' seedlings, and they will make sure to let you know about their displeasure. You can find the manure over there; I want you to open your book at page 158; today's goal is to make sure those will be happily dancing at the end of the hour."

"That's a waste of time." Malfoy complained between his teeth. "And I refuse to-"

"Oh, shut up." Rohini groaned before heading to the back of the greenhouse to pick up a bucket of dragon manure, pretending it was to throw it at Malfoy's face.

"Move." She said, shoving Malfoy away with her elbow before opening her _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ manual.

"Don't order me around, Potter. I'm not your House elf."

"Yeah, and you don't have one either; I do believe your father freed him. How kind of him, really. Maybe you should buy him a S.P.E.W pin." Rohini said without raising the nose from her manual. "Feed it some lettuce."

"Do it yourself." Malfoy said, crossing his arms. Rohini rolled her eyes.

"What are you, five? Grew up, Malfoy." She said shortly before grabbing the lettuce and starting to rip it off before throwing it at the plant.

The schreechsnap obviously didn't appreciate it for it began to screech loudly, making everybody hiss and cover their ears.

"What have you done?!" Malfoy shouted at Rohini. "Stop this thing!"

Panicking, Rohini grabbed the manure bucket and emptied it over the angry plant, burying it completely under it; the screeches were muffled now, but the plant was obviously getting angrier.

"Move away!" Said Professor Sprout, pushing the two of them away before starting to dig into the manure and trying to shush down the plant as if it was a screaming baby. "Shhhh, shhh, it's alright, it's alright… Dear lord, what did you do to this poor thing? Shhh… don't worry, it's alright- here, have some peanuts…"

"Sorry." Rohini apologised, blushing in shame. A few students snorted. Professor Sprout kept muttering to herself.

"'Should have teach you about Gillyweeds instead, you're obviously not ready to take care about such fragile little things-"

"Fragile?" Malfoy said, bemused. "This thing almost made my ears bleed!"

"Oh, shut up." Rohini repeated again, feeling quite moody.

The rest of the lesson was pretty boring in comparison, for Professor Sprout refused to let them try to take care of another Schreechsnap and so Malfoy and Rohini just sat as far away from the other as possible during the rest of the hour.

When Rohini told her friends about what had happened during Lunch break, they burst into laugh.

"I can't believe she thought pairing you up with Malfoy was a good idea." Ginny said, bemused.

"Me neither." Rohini sighed. "I wish she had taught us about Gillyweeds instead, whatever it is."

"Did someone say Gillyweeds?" Sang a voice behind them before a pair of strong arms hugged the two girls.

"Dana!" Rohini smiled. "Yeah, I did. Why, do you know about it?"

"Well, I'm not saying I've spend a whole hour reading about it earlier…" Dana started, looking at her manicured nails, "but I might have read about it earlier, while trying to figure out how to help you with the second task."

"Did you?" Rohini said, suddenly excited. "You're the best!"

"I know." Dana said, beaming. "Anyway, Gillyweed is literally the only safe way I could find for you to survive underwater for so long. But let's talk about it somewhere else." Dana said, glancing at the teachers table where Karkaroff was staring at her suspiciously.

"I know just the place for that." Rohini said before leading her friends to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where the ghost was floating above the sinks.

"Hello Myrtle." Rohini said cheerfully. "You don't mind having some company, I hope?"

"Did you come to make fun of me?" Myrtle said moodily before looking at Ginny. "Oh. You're the girl who opened the Chamber, didn't you? You used to come over here often."

"Let's forget about that." Rohini said quickly as Ginny's expression turned grim. "Don't mind us: we'll not be long."

"Oh." Said Myrtle; she sounded a bit disappointed. "Alright." And then she disappeared inside the toilet she died in.

"Wow." Dana simply said.

"Myrtle is a bit sensitive. Must be lonely, to be a ghost." Luna said.

"I can still hear you!" Shouted Myrtle from behind the door.

"So," Rohini said, clapping her hands together. "Gillyweed?"

Dana pulled out a dusty book from her bag, opened it to a corned page, and read:

"Gillyweed is a magical plant native to the Mediterranean Sea. When it is eaten by a witch or wizard, one grows gills and webbing between the fingers and toes, allowing them to process oxygen from water and navigate underwater more easily. There is some debate among Herbologists as to the duration of the effects of Gillyweed in fresh water versus salt water but the effects of Gillyweed in fresh water seem to last about an hour."

"Oh my god, that's… that's so great!" Rohini said before pulling Dana into a tight embrace. "Thank you! You're a life saviour!"

Dana laughed.

"Don't thank me yet; we still need to find a way to get one…"

"Snape's office." Ginny said. "I mean, he probably have some, right?"

"Stealing from a teacher?" Dana said, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like a plan."

"In other circumstances, I'd have said yes but Snape seems convinced Harry and I have been stealing from him already…" Rohini sighed. "And I don't know if I have enough time to order some… might be seen as suspicious, too… and most shop s' owners take some holidays during this period of the year…"

"We'll help you figure this out." Luna promised.

"Thank you, guys." Rohini said, feeling a bit more confident about the second task; now that she had found part of the solution, things seemed to be getting easier, somehow. "I'm really lucky to have you in my life."

The girls only beamed at her before saying goodbye at Myrtle and leave the bathroom, planning how to get access to Gillyweed.

But time flew by, between her personal lessons with Professor McGonagall and the ton of homework they had to do, as though somebody had bewitched the clocks to go extra-fast. There was a week to go before February the twenty-fourth, then there were five days to go and now three days to go.

"I should have learnt how to swim." Rohini realised the day before the task.

"I thought you knew the basics?" Padma asked.

"By basics, I meant I know how to swim like dogs do. You know, kinda paddling the water with my hands and feet?"

"Oh dear." Padma said, obviously concerned. "Well, you could try during lunch break? I doubt anybody will be around the lake, it's still quite cold outside."

"I'm just gonna let myself sink to the bottom of the lake and hope for the best." Rohini sighed, absently picking at her skin.

"Don't." Padma said gently but firmly, pushing her hand away.

"Thanks." Rohini said with a weak smile, just as the owls arrived to deliver newspapers and letters to everybody.

Trying to see if Hedwig came back with an answer from Professor Lupin yet (thought she didn't need it anymore- she just hoped their former teacher was doing alright), Rohini was surprised when her brother's owl landed in front of her with a letter and a tiny box tied up to her legs.

"Open it!" Padma said excitingly, helping Rohini to untie it before feeding Hedwig a piece of toast.

"Thank you, Hedwig." Rohini said, kissing the owl's beak. Hedwig blinked slowly, happy, before flying off again.

"It's from Professor Lupin!" Rohini said, recognising the handwriting on the envelope that she hurried up to open. The letter read:

 _Dear Rohini,_

 _I apologise for such a late answer to your previous later; I have been quite busy those past few weeks; Mr. Lovegood have kindly given me a job at The Quibbler, as you might have seen._

 _Thank you for the chocolates; I did appreciate all of them._

 _Shortly after receiving your letter, I received one from Padfoot, who seemed quite concerned about you; from the distance, he helped me find something that might help you for a hypothetical dive into the lake, as you mentioned in your previous letter._

 _My best advice about getting something back from merpeople would be to respect their boundaries and only take back what you went looking for; they do not appreciate humans' greed. This information is, of course, hypothetical too and merely a continuation of our previous lessons about merpeople; I do believe you ask those questions without second thoughts._

 _Yours truly,_

"What did he send you?" Padma asked, handing the box to Rohini who hurried to open it. Inside was a ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails.

"Don't tell me-" Padma started, eyes wide opened.

"Is it-?" Luna started.

"Gillyweed!" Rohini said in a low but excited voice, not wanting to catch everybody's attention. "Oh my god, it is Gillyweed!"

"You're saved!" Padma said with a laugh. "Sinking or not, you will be able to breath underwater for an hour!"

"I need to tell Dana!" Rohini said, jumping on her feet and running to the Slytherin table where Dana had just finished her breakfast and was standing up. "Dana! Dana, I found you-know-what!" She told her friend who seemed pleasantly surprised. "Come on!" Rohini said, grabbing her by the sleeves and pulling her after her out of the Great Hall and behind a large armour.

"Show me!" Dana said excitingly, almost hopping on spot. Rohini pulled the Gillyweed out of her pocket and Dana pocked it curiously before grimacing. "Slimy." She said.

"Yeah, makes me a bit sick to think of eating it but it's for the greatest good." Rohini said.

"How did you get one? Did you, you know, steal it?" Dana asked. Rohini laughed.

"Nope! One of my parents' old friends sent it to me." She explained. Dana raised an eyebrow.

"Glad they seem to know what they are doing." She said. "Now that I think about it, maybe I could have ask my da-"

"Bogdana." Interrupted a cold voice behind them. Turning her head, Rohini gulped when she recognised Karkaroff, the man looking at them with his lips pinched, standing up straight and with his hands crossed behind his back. Dana seemed to tense up next to Rohini.

"Yes, Professor?" She asked politely.

"May I have a talk with you? In private." He said with a cold smile to Rohini.

"Of course, Professor." Dana said before nodding at Rohini and following Karkaroff outside, the man grabbing her shoulder and clenching it in a gesture that was anything but friendly. What was he going to do?

Biting her lips, Rohini stood there alone for a moment, wondering if she should follow them. But she couldn't; it would probably only made things worse for Dana if Karkaroff spotted her; the best would be to wait for her friend to be back.

But Dana didn't show up for lunch, and didn't show up for dinner either. Concerned, Rohini went to the Gryffindors table and asked her brother if he had seen her friend that day.

"No, I didn't, sorry." Harry apologised.

"What d'you reckon Karkaroff wanted with her?" Ron asked, glancing at the teachers table where Karkaroff was talking to Dumbledore, glancing from time to time at Rohini who stared back.

"He doesn't like the fact she's getting along well with us." Rohini said. "He fears she will spat up Durmstrang's darkest secrets, or something."

"But he never acted this way with Victor." Hermione pointed out. Ron sneered.

"He's _Victor_ , Hermione." He said. "What do you want him to do to him?"

"Did someone say Victor?" Said Fred as the Weasley twins joined them and sat between their brother.

"What do you want?" Ron asked.

"Merely ears dropping," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Harry. And you, Hermione."

"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised.

"Dunno ... she was looking a bit grim, though." said Fred.

"We're supposed to take you down to her office." said George.

"Did you do something wrong again?" Rohini asked to her brother who elbowed her in the ribs. "Just kidding. If you see Dana on your way here, tell me, ok?"

"Ok." Harry said as he and Hermione followed after the twins, exchanging worried looks.

"Do you think Professor McGonagall noticed we were helping you?" Ron asked. Rohini shook her head.

"No, she would have call for you and Ginny otherwise, don't you think?"

"I hope you're right." Ron said as they watch their friends leave the Great Hall in silence.

Rohini could barely sleep that night: all she could think of was Dana who had gone missing and the fact both Hermione and Harry might be in trouble for some reasons. Padma and Luna tried to help her relax by taking turns reading articles of The Quibblers, in vain.

It must have been around six in the morning when Rohini's eyes finally closed for a short rest. She had barely been asleep for an hour that someone started to shake her shoulders. Groaning, she opened her eyes and blinked a few times before putting her glasses on and grimacing at the time.

"What?" She said before recognising Dobby the House Elf. "Dobby? What- what are you doing here?" She asked, confused.

"Dobby have come to help Rohini Potter, miss!" squeaked Dobby. "And to Help Harry Potter, Miss!"

"Help…me and Harry?" Rohini said slowly, even more confused. "What do you want to help us for?"

"Dobby knows, miss! Rohini Potter has to go into the lake and find Harry Potter -"

"What?!" Rohini yelled, suddenly wide awake.

"- and take her brother back from the merpeople!" Finished Dobby quickly as a few girls grumbled in their sleep.

"Don't eat that, Rohi'…" Padma mumbled before turning her back to Rohini.

"They've got. . . they've got Harry?" Rohini said, feeling like it was suddenly hard to breathe. "Oh my god…"

"The thing Rohini Potter will miss most, miss!" squeaked Dobby. "'But past an hour-'"

"- 'the prospect's black,'" Rohini recited, staring, horror-struck, at the elf. «'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.' But Harry- Harry can't swim! He- he can't breathe under water!" Rohini started to panic. "What am I gonna do? I never thought- I thought it would have just been something like a journal or something!"

"You has to eat this, miss!" squeaked the elf, and he put his hand in the pocket of his shorts and drew out a Gillyweed, identical to the one Rohini had received the previous morning. "Right before you go into the lake, miss – it will make you breathe underwater!"

"Thanks Dobby, but I already have one." Rohini said. Dobby looked down sadly. "Actually, maybe I should have a second one, just in case." Rohini hurried to add before taking the Gillyweed from Dobby's hands. "Thanks Dobby. How did you know?"

"Dobby hears things, miss, he is a house-elf, he goes all over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the floors. Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the next task… Dobby can't let Harry Potter die, miss!" Dobby said and Rohini wept, thinking about Harry's body floating, lifeless, at the surface of the lake, as people points at her and blame her for this.

"Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, miss!" Dobby squealed before jumping off Rohini's bed. "Dobby will be missed - good luck, Rohini Potter, miss, good luck!"

"Thanks, Dobby." Rohini said weakly, staring blankly at her hands. Harry's life was into them, now. If she failed- if she failed, she would have no family left. Only long, dark summers spent at Privet Drive, haunted by the ghost of Harry's presence in every mundane thing she'll see or do.

Rohini was unable to go back to sleep; instead, she picked up the Marauders' journal and read it again and again, trying to memorise every spells and jinx she could. When Padma finally wake up, she found Rohini looking extremely pale, her eyes puffy and red from the lack of sleep, her jaw tensed and her fingers slightly shaking.

She hurried to sit next to Rohini and asked her what was wrong, but Rohini shook her head, unable to talk.

"Is it about the second task?" Padma asked, gently touching Rohini's cheek; her fingers felt cool against her skin. Rohini nodded. "Are you still worried about being unable to swim properly?" Rohini shook her head.

"Harry." She finally managed to say. "They- they've got Harry."

Padma's eyes opened wide.

"What?! But I thought- they can't do that!"

"Apparently, they can, actually." Rohini said bitterly. "As if putting us, the champions, in danger wasn't enough…"

"Oh, Rohi'." Padma said, hugging her tight. Rohini blinked fast, refusing to cry, and hugged Padma tighter. "I- I'm sure you will be able to save him. I believe in you, and I'm sure Harry does, too."

"Thanks." Rohini only said. Padma's embrace tightened before she stood up and took Rohini's hand.

"You need food; you haven't sleep, I can tell, so you need to eat something, to get some energy."

"I don't think I'll be able to eat." Rohini said while picking up her clothes. "Wait- I don't have a swimsuit."

"Just wear tight clothes and no cloak." Padma said, going through Rohini's truck to pick up a long sleeved t-shirt and Rohini's running pants. "There."

"Thanks." Rohini repeated.

"You'll be fine." Padma assured her. Rohini said nothing, making sure she had the two Gillyweeds with her before following Padma to the bathroom and then to the Great Hall.

As Rohini tried to force herself to eat a bit of everything with difficulties, Padma explained the truth about the second task to Luna who looked extremely concerned.

"It's a really awful thing to do." She said with a frown. "I'd thought Hogwarts' teachers would have been against such an idea."

"I guess they aren't the ones taking the final decision." Padma said. Indeed, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid were both looking extremely sick.

"It's time." Rohini simply said.

The sun was shining but the air was still quite chilly and Rohini wondered if Harry was already underwater, probably dying of hypothermia. Looking around, Rohini didn't catch a glimpse of Dana either.

As she and her friends pounded down the lawn, Rohini saw that the seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank, rising in stands that were packed to the bursting point and reflected in the lake below.

The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water and Rohini took a deep breathe before saying goodbye to her friends and head to the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Cedric, Fleur, and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Rohini walk toward them.

To Rohini's surprise, it was Percy Weasley who showed up once again instead of Mr. Crouch.

"Hi." Rohini said to Cedric, who smiled at her a bit nervously.

"Alright, then." Ludo Bagman said lightly before moving among the champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. Rohini was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming trunks and was holding his wand ready; Rohini seemed to be the only champion wearing normal clothes and she felt slightly ridiculous about it.

"All right, Rohini?" Bagman whispered as he moved Rohini a few feet farther away from Krum. "Know what you're going to do?"

Rohini nodded and Bagman gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and returned to the judges' table; he pointed his wand at his throat, said, "Sonorus!" and his voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands.

Rohini wondered for an instant if there will be some kind of magic screens to show everybody what was happening under the lake, or if they'll have to stare at the lake's surface for the following hour.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Rohini pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled one of the Gillyweed out of her pocket, stuffed it into her mouth, and waded out into the lake.

It was so cold she felt the skin on her legs searing as though this were fire, not icy water. Shivering, she rubbed her arms and hesitated; the water was over her knees, and her rapidly numbing feet were slipping over silt and flat, slimy stones.

For the split of a moment, she remembered the accident at the swimming pool, years ago; how someone's had hit her hard in the head, right at ear level, and the shock between the water and the punch had exploded her ear-drum as she tripped into the deepest part of the pool, starting to drown.

She froze.

'You have to do it, Rohini.' She thought. 'You have to dive, or Harry will die!'

Shaking her head, Rohini finally swallowed the Gillyweed, unpleasantly slimy and rubbery, like octopus tentacles. And without waiting for a reaction, she dove.

It was painfully cold, her whole skin felt both numb and yet extremely aware of the temperature change. Rohini couldn't see a single thing; she had forgotten to take off her glasses and those slipped off her nose; everything was dark and blurry around her, and she felt a wave of panic hitting her as she awkwardly moved her hands and feet in synch, trying to get deeper into the lake.

Then, quite suddenly, Rohini felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over her mouth and nose. She tried to draw breath, but it made her head spin; her lungs were empty, and she suddenly felt a piercing pain on either side of her neck -she clapped her hands around her throat and felt two large slits just below her ears: gills.

Panicked, she opened her mouth to scream again and swallowed a mouthful of water.

The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the breath of life. Her head stopped spinning, and her vision was getting as clear as if she had swimming glasses.

Without posing to admire the effect of the Gillyweed, she took another great gulp of water and felt it pass smoothly through her gills, sending oxygen back to her brain. She stretched out her hands in front of her, and gasped when she saw how green and ghostly they looked under the water, and how webbed they had become.

The water didn't feel icy anymore either; on the contrary, she felt pleasantly cool and very light. Rohini pushed on her legs a bit stronger; she needed to reach the bottom, and fast.

Silence pressed upon her ears as she soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape.

She could only see ten feet around her, so that as she sped through the water new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. Rohini swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake.

She was less fearful now, but still on her guard: she knew better than to trust the darkness surrounding her.

Small fish flickered past her like silver darts. Once or twice she thought she saw something larger moving ahead of her and wondered if it was the Giant Squid spying on her. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople or Harry yet.

And then, without warning, something grabbed hold of her ankle.

Rohini twisted her body around and saw a Grindylow poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around her leg, its pointed fangs bared.

By the time Rohini had grasped her wand, two more Grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of her, and were attempting to drag her down.

"Relashio!" Rohini shouted, remembering Professor Lupin's article. No sound came out but a large bubble issued from her mouth, and her wand pelted the creatures with a jet of boiling water that created angry red patches appeared on their green skin.

Rohini pulled her ankle out of the Grindylows grip and swam, as fast as she could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over her shoulder at random; every now and then she felt one of the Grindylows snatch at her foot again but she kicked out, hard.

Rohini slowed down a little, slipped her wand back inside her pocket, and looked around, listening again. She turned full circle in the water, the silence pressing harder than ever against her eardrum. She knew she must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.

"How are you getting on?"

Rohini yelled and many bubbles came out of her mouth.

She whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of her, gazing at her through her thick, pearly glasses.

"Myrtle!" Rohini tried to shout - but once again, nothing came out of her mouth but a very large bubble. Moaning Myrtle actually giggled.

"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you... I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close..."

Rohini gave her the thumbs-up to show her thanks and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the weed to avoid any more Grindylows that might be lurking there.

She swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes and passed over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as she disturbed the water. Then, at long last, she heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

" _An hour long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took..._ "

Rohini swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Raising an eyebrow, Rohini swam on past the rock, following the mersong.

" _Your time's half gone, so tarry not lest what you seek stays here to rot..."_

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Rohini saw faces that bore no resemblance at all with what she imagined mermaids to look like.

The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Rohini as she swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch her better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. Rohini wished she would have the time and the tools to sketch everything she was seeing.

Rohini sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and she even saw a pet Grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching her eagerly, pointing at her webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Feeling distressed by all this, Rohini sped around a corner and a very strange sight met her eyes.

A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

Harry was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Rohini feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister. All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.

A weight seemed to lift off her chest as Rohini realised they all looked alive and well, if not a bit paler than usual.

She sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at her, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong.

She looked around. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. She swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head.

"We do not help." he said in a harsh, croaky voice. Rohini made a rude gesture at him, for she couldn't speak underwater.

There were rocks littering the lake bottom. She dived and snatched up a particularly jagged one and returned to the statue. She began to hack at the ropes binding Harry, and after several minutes' hard work, they broke apart. Harry floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water.

Rohini looked around; there was no sign of any of the other champions. What were they playing at? Why didn't they hurry up? She turned back to Hermione, raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her bindings too -At once, several pairs of strong gray hands seized her.

Half a dozen mermen were pulling her away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, ad laughing.

"You take your own hostage," one of them said to her "Leave the others ..."

Rohini now understood what Professor Lupin must have meant by 'humans' greed'. Still, she tried to swim back toward Hermione, but was shoved away again.

"Your task is to retrieve your own friend."

"She's my friend too!" Rohini yelled, gesturing toward Hermione, an enormous silver bubble emerging soundlessly from her lips. "And I don't want them to die either!" She added, pointing at Cho Chang and the little girl; it might be a competition, but she wasn't _that_ heartless. After all, she knew how it felt to drown, and she would never let someone experience it if she could avoid it.

Where were the rest of the champions, damnit? She glanced at the merpeople again; there was no way she could fight them all without magic; she was so tiny, they could probably hold her back until the Gillyweed had stopped working to drown her.

The merpeople around her suddenly pointed excitedly over her head. Rohini looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched.

"Fleur and Krum're coming now!" he mouthed.

Feeling enormously relieved, Rohini gave him a thumb up as she watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He pulled her upward and out of sight.

Rohini grabbed Harry's sleeve, and was ready to swim back to the surface, but paused; maybe she should wait for Fleur and Krum to get there, just in case.

The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Rohini loosened their grip, staring behind them. Rohini turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark... It was Krum.

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Rohini would have burst in laugh.

The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Rohini was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward, she hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.

At least, her friend was safe now, Rohini thought. Still, Fleur wasn't showing up and the little girl seemed greener than Harry.

Rohini grabbed the stone that Krum had dropped with one hand and her wand with the other.

"I will burn you alive if you don't get out of my way." She said to the merpeople, bubbles coming off her lips. And to demonstrate her threat, she pointed her wand slightly above the closest mermaid's head and shouted "Relashio!"

The merpeople stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon her wand, and they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them than there were of her, but by the looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic than the giant squid did.

Finally, they scattered. Rohini darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. Sighing, she seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Harry's robes, and kicked off from the bottom.

It was very slow work; Rohini could no longer use her webbed hands to propel herself forward and she was much smaller than Harry, and wasn't necessary strong: she worked his flippers furiously, but Harry and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging her back down. She fixed her eyes skyward, though she knew she must still be very deep.

Merpeople were rising with her. She could see them swirling around her with ease, watching her struggle through the water. Would they pull her back down to the depths when the time was up? Did they perhaps eat humans?

Rohini tried to push away those thoughts, and concentrate on swimming, which was becoming extremely difficult.

Her legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming, her shoulders were aching horribly with the effort of dragging her brother and the little girl, and she was drawing breath with extreme difficulty.

She started to panic when she felt pain on the sides of her neck again; the effects of the Gillyweed were driving off.

Stopping, she dropped Harry for a moment and tried to reach the second Gillyweed in her pocket, but accidentally dropped it.

"No!" She yelled and water started flooding through her mouth into her lungs; she was starting to feel dizzy, her very brain felt waterlogged, she couldn't breathe, she needed oxygen, she had to keep going, she could not stop or the three of them would die-

Grabbing her wand, she pointed it down.

"Relashio!" The jet gave her some impulse and got her closer to the surface. "Relashio! Relashio! Relashio…"

Rohini couldn't see anything now, her whole body seemed to be on fire, she was half choking on water, but she had to keep going, she was almost there, she couldn't give up so close to the end… "RELASHIO!"

And then she felt her head break the surface of the lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making his wet face sting; she gulped it down and coughed the water out of her lungs, feeling as though she had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pulled Harry and the little girl up with her.

All around him, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of the water with her, but they were smiling at her. Rohini tried to smile back, but was too exhausted for that.

The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Rohini had the impression they thought that Harry and the little girl might be dead, but they were wrong; both of them had opened their eyes; the girl looked scared and confused, but Harry merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Rohini, and smiled brightly at her.

"You did it." He said and Rohini brought him into a tight hug, almost drowning them both. "Hey!"

"Oh gosh, I thought we were both done for." Rohini said, blinking to chase the tears from her burning eyes.

"It's ok, they weren't going to let us drown." Harry assured her. "It was just to make you hurry up."

"That's- For Merlin's sake!" Rohini yelled before a pair of strong arms started pulling them out of the water.

Rohini squinted her eyes, trying to see without her glasses until someone handed them to her. Putting them on, she recognised Dumbledore's face, smiling at her. Thanking him, Rohini looked around and saw Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets.

Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at the twins as Percy handed them a thick and welcomingly warm towel. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"

Fleur finally broke free of Madame Maxime and was now hugging her sister.

"It was ze Grindylows... zey attacked me ... oh Gabrielle, I thought... I thought..."

"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized the twins and pulled them over to Hermione and the others before forcing a measure of very hot potion down their throat. Steam gushed out of their ears and the twins looked at each other before bursting in laugh, relieved, as Hermione brought the two of them into a tight hug that made it hard to breath.

"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum, pointing at the little bug in Hermione's hair before turning to Rohini. "Thanks for the stone." He simply said, and Rohini nodded.

Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though- Did it take you ages to find us?"

"No, I was the first one to arrive, but I thought- I took the song too seriously, I guess." Rohini admitted with a blush.

"Look." Harry said, pointing at something on their left; Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female.

He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."

The judges went into a huddle.

Fleur and her sister joined them; Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.

"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Rohini. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

"I guess, yeah." Rohini said awkwardly.

Fleur bent down, kissed her twice on each cheek (she felt her face burn and wouldn't have been surprised if steam was coming out of her ears again), then said to Harry, "And you too-you 'elped -"

"Well, I-"Harry started but Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him. Harry was now as brightly red as Rohini, and the twins exchanged a glance before laughing again.

Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows: Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero." said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head. Rohini awkwardly patted her back.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Cho give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior. Silence followed, and Rohini bit her lips nervously, Harry squeezing her hand, looking as nervous as her.

"Rohini Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "She returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Miss Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in her return was due to her determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely her own."

Rohini hide her face with her free hand, feeling ridiculous.

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However... Miss Potter's score is forty-five points."

Rohini gasped loudly, her eyes comically wide opened: she was now tying for first place with Cedric. Hermione and Harry, looking just as surprised as her, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.

Fleur was clapping very hard too and both Cedric and Cho gave her a little smile. Krum only nodded at her politely.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

And finally, the second task was officially over. Rohini heard people shouting her name, and the second after, she fell on the ground as Padma, Luna and Ginny jumped on her, laughing and congratulating her.

"You did it, Rohini!" Padma said, beaming with pride. "You beautiful, marvellous girl!" And she gave Rohini a kiss on each cheek, just like Fleur did.

Next time she was in Hogsmeade, Rohini decided as she walked back up the stone steps into the castle, she was going to buy Professor Lupin a box of chocolate for every day of the year, and special socks for Dobby who did his best to help her, too.


	21. Chapter 21

The day following the task, Dana came back.

Rohini was working on translating a short text for her Ancient Runes afternoon lesson, when Padma slapped her arm and pointed at the Durmstrang girl that was quickly passing in front of the Great Hall, as if wishing to go unnoticed.

Jumping on her feet, Rohini sprinted out of the room, ran straight into the Hufflepuff's ghost that shook his head with a sigh, and grabbed her friend's arm.

"Dana!" She yelled, relieved- only to be pushed against the wall with such strength she heard something crack and knew she will probably have to deal with a bruised shoulder for the rest of the week.

Hissing, Rohini opened her eyes and flinched when she saw Dana's expression- alerted, fearful, and dangerous- before her friend recognised her and let go of her strong grip on Rohini's collar.

"Damnit, Rohi', I thought-"But before she could finish her sentence, the door opened and two Durmstrang students came in. Before they could pay them any attention, Dana grabbed Rohini by the arm again and pulled her behind a large statue, her jaw looking tense.

"Dana, what's wrong? You're scaring me." Rohini whispered, looking at her friend from tips to toes; there was no visible injury, no new scars, not a single scratch. Yet, there was something different about the Durmstrang girl.

"Let's- let's talk somewhere else." Dana said, avoiding her gaze and Rohini nodded, taking her friend by the hand as gently as she could before leading her toward the stairs, reaching the third floor, and heading to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch that hid a secret tunnel that leads from Hogwarts to the cellar of Honeydukes.

"Dissendium." Rohini said, hitting the hump with her wand.

The hump on the witch's statue opened to reveal a short slide and Rohini assured Dana it was perfectly safe. Dana seemed to hesitate, shook her head, and dive in, followed closely by Rohini.

"Lumos." Rohini said and the tip of her wand lightened up. Then, she thought about how happy she had felt, during the Yule ball, dancing with all her friends, especially Padma. "Expecto Patronum!"

For the first time in many months, the shining blackbuck jumped out of her wand, creating a powerful source of light that seemed to delight Dana, her friend dropping her grim face to stare at the beautiful creature in awe.

"It's the first time I see an actual Patronus." She whispered, approaching her hand. The animal turned its head to Rohini, who nodded, and closed its eyes, letting Dana touch it. "It's beautiful."

"That it is." Rohini said with a soft smile, patting the blackbuck's neck before taking off her cloak and sitting on it, leaving enough space for Dana to join her.

"How long can it hold?" Dana asked, nodding at the silver animal that shook its head and lay down next to the girls, its presence quite reassuring in the darkness of the tunnel.

"I don't know, to be honest. It's only the second time I cast it." Rohini admitted. Dana hummed, impressed.

"We- I guess Durmstrang isn't merry enough to let us try that kind of magic." Dana said, and there was a shadow upon her face again. She looked much older now, afraid too.

"Dana… what happened, with Karkaroff?" Rohini finally asked and Dana looked down at her hands. Looking closer, Rohini realised they were shaking. "It's ok if you don't want to tell me, but- but you're my friend, and if he did something to you-"

"There's nothing you could do about it, Rohi'." Dana cut her, her voice bitter. "He's- you don't know half of the things I know about him. Trust me, I'd rather- I'd rather let him uses the Cruciatus curse on me a thousand more time than let you alone with-"

"Wait, hold on." Rohini said, raising her hand. "Are you saying that he used Crucio on you?! That's- what a filthy-how many times?"

Dana didn't answer. Rohini felt her whole body starting to shake in an intense anger, one she hadn't felt since Rita's article about her.

"How many times, Dana?" She asked again, trying to keep her voice even. Dana's shoulders slouched as she tried to shrug it off with a wave of her hand.

"I lost count after ten." She said, and though she tried to look casual, Rohini could see in her eyes that it had left her scarred on the inside.

Rohini jumped on her feet, startling the Patronus that vanished into a fog, leaving them in an almost total obscurity, except from Rohini's wand that was still lit.

"We need to do something! This- this asshole can't go without punishment! He- he tortured you!" Rohini shouted. "And for what? Being my friend? I'm going to punch this pathetic excuse of a man in his-"

"Don't." Dana said, grabbing Rohini's sleeves and pulling on it with enough strength to make her sit again. "You know nothing, Rohini. You are nothing against the ones like him. You can fight a dragon, you can show braveness and wits, but… you can't fight what he is, trust me."

"And what is he, exactly?" Rohini asked, her voice a low, angry whisper. "What is he, to be allowed to use a forbidden curse on his student, and goes unpunished?"

"He's a Death Eater, Rohini." Dana said, shuddering at the terrible name. "A Death Eater. He was- he was somehow released from Azkaban after ditching a few names, but that doesn't take the darkness out of his heart, the poisons out of his veins. He is more dangerous than you think, Rohi'. And I would never allow you to be hurt because of me."

Dana's eyes lightened up with a newfound determination. As for Rohini, she sat wordless for a moment, opening and closing her mouth as she let the new info sink in. Part of her was just surprised she hadn't thought of that possibility before; it would explain why Malfoy had seemed so eager to go study at Durmstrang, or why Mad-Eye had been more untrusty than normal around him.

"But- how? How can they go, look at a Death Eater, a murderer, and think 'oh, let's free him and let him be in charge of a whole school and teach dark magic. What a good plan!'"

"Adults aren't necessary the brightest persons around." Dana said with a humourless laugh before her stomach grumbled loudly. "Ah, sorry about that. Haven't eaten in two days, I'm not even supposed to be here-"

"Is he starving you?!" Rohini yelled and Dana looked away. "This is- You need to talk to Dumbledore about that! I mean, he must be scared of Dumbledore, right? Even Voldemort was scared of him!"

"There's scarier thing in the world, honey." Dana said. "Besides, I'm- listen, I'm really grateful that you want to help me, really, but I've lived with a Death Eater for years. I think I can handle it, really." Dana said, covering her face with her hands, sighing tiredly.

"What do you mean?" Rohini asked, frowning. Dana raised her head and she looked so fragile on this instant, so small.

"Remember the whole 'too early to share my tragic backstory with you', back in October?" She asked and Rohini did recall that line. Dana took a deep breath. "Well, I suppose it's time for me to reveal the ugly truth."

Rohini should have insisted that it was fine, that she didn't have to if she didn't wanted- but, and she felt guilty about that, she also wanted to know the truth and so she nodded at Dana to continue.

"I've never told you my whole name, did I? I'm Bogdana Borislav. It's my father's name, of course. My mother- my mother was Lyudmila Krum, one of the deadliest Bulgarian Death Eaters to date."

"Your mother was…a Death Eater?" Rohini said, blinking. "But- Wait, did you say Krum? Are you, are you related to Victor Krum? Are you guys, like, cousins or something?"

"Very, very distant cousins, yeah." Dana admitted before taking another deep breath. "I- I hated her. Mother, I mean. Her only redeeming quality was that she did care about my sisters. She wasn't so kind with dad and I, though. Probably because I was old enough to understand what was wrong with her and her so called friends. Dad- dad refused to join them. I mean, he was a black man, and was –still is, to be honest- experiencing discrimination and violence; he would have never ever considered haunting Muggle for who they were."

"What happened, then?" Rohini asked weakly.

"We ran." Dana said, her eyes lighting up again as memories came back to her. "It was a couple of years after the war. They didn't talk about it in the news, but the Death Eaters didn't all stop after You-Know-Who fell. No, some had found a new addiction in torture and death.

Mother was one of them. One night, I think I was six, maybe seven, she left for one last action. They called it 'biding their adieux'. And dad- dad knew it was the right moment to run away. He woke us, told us to get dressed and grab what we loved the most, and we ran into the night, not sure where to go, wandering for a while; dad had a few contacts, and we hide with them until we heard that she and the rest of the Death Eaters had been all executed, refusing to surrender."

"Ah." Rohini simply said. Dana shrugged.

"I was relieved, to be honest. My sisters were too young to properly understand, I guess; how are you supposed to tell kids that their mother was a godamn murderer, and that she was, well, killed in the action? The next few months were terrible. Dad caught me trying to mangle with my sisters' memories, trying to make them forget. It was the first and only time he got really angry at me."

"I'm sorry." Rohini said, opening her arms. Sighing, Dana hugged so tightly Rohini wheezed, which made her friend chuckle weakly. "How… how are they doing, now?"

"Surprisingly good. They- they are so much brighter than me, it's amazing." Dana laughed again, fondness replacing the fear.

"You're one of the brightest people I know, so they must be real geniuses." Rohini teased, though she was still trying to process everything. "Still, Karkaroff is torturing you, Dana. Please, promise me you will get help, even if it's not from me."

Dana sighed, but raised her little finger.

"Pinky promise, then?" Rohini laughed.

"Pinky promise." Dana agreed with a tired smile.

"Oh, another thing." Rohini said, not sure how to do it. "Dobby? Dobby, it's me, Rohini!" She called.

 _Crack!_

Making the two girls yell, Dobby appeared in front of them, wearing way too many socks to be comfortable.

"Miss Rohini Potter!" He squealed happily. "Dobby have heard about the second task, miss! Dobby know that Miss Potter have saved her Harry Potter, miss!"

"Ah, yeah, thanks for your help." Rohini quickly said before turning to Dana, who looked extremely confused by the situation. "See my friend right here? Dobby, meets Dana. Dana, meets Dobby."

"It's a pleasure to meet Miss Potter's friend, miss!" Dobby said, bowing so low his nose touched the ground.

"Pleasure is mine." Dana said, blinking fast.

"Dobby, I need your help." Rohini said. "Dana here is kinda trapped on the Durmstrang ship, not allowed to get out or have a proper meal." Rohini explained, waving at Dana to let her speak as her friend opened her mouth. "You do have access to the kitchen, right?"

"That's where Dobby work most of the time, miss!" Dobby said, clenching his beanie.

"Awesome. And tell me if I'm wrong, but Dumbledore probably asked you to go lit fires and makes the beds on that damn ship or something, right?"

"Well, yes he did, miss." Dobby said with a nod. "We are only allowed to come over once a day, though."

"Alright. Now, I'm sorry to ask you that, but do you think you could keep an eye on Dana for me? We don't know how long Karkaroff will keep her there."

"Of course, miss! Dobby will not let Miss Dana be hurt or starved, miss!" Dobby assured firmly, nodding and crossing his arms over Ron's sweater.

"Speaking of, I really need to leave before breakfast end or I'll be caught." Dana said, throwing a distressed glance at her watch. "I originally came to try to find the kitchen, but-"

"Dobby will bring you all the food you want, miss!" Dobby said and Dana gave him a grateful smile.

"Hold on, here." Rohini said, going through her bag before getting the Marauders' map out of her bag. "I solemnly swear than I'm up to no good." she said, and the map appeared, making Dana gasp. Rohini handed the map to her friend. "It shows you where everybody is within the castle grounds. Once you're done, just say 'Mischief Managed'. It will keep you safe, I hope."

Dana stared at the map, then slowly looked back at Rohini, and brought her into another tight hug.

"You, Rohini Potter, are the most wonderful girl I have ever met." She said before kissing Rohini's forehead. "Thank you, my friend. I must go now, but I will make sure to keep this map safe."

She then turned to Dobby, and bowed to him. "And thank you, little friend. I hope to see you soon."

And off she was.

"Wow." Rohini said, leaning against the wall. "Wow. I need a moment."

"Is Miss Potter hurt anywhere, miss?" Dobby asked worriedly. Rohini shook her head.

"Just- it's been a long morning, I guess. And it's only 8am, geeze…" Rohini pinched her nose and groaned before smiling to Dobby, who was dancing from one foot to the other. "Thanks Dobby. Sorry for bothering you so early."

"Dobby is always pleased to help Miss Potter, miss!" Dobby assured her. "But Dobby have to leave now, there's dishes to be washed…"

"Yeah, I understand. Bye Dobby." Rohini said before picking up her cloak and shaking it to take off the dirt and then put it back on. "Guess I'm gonna miss breakfast entirely if I don't hurry up."

Padma and Luna were still waiting for her when Rohini came back.

"Breakfast just ended, but we saved you some toasts." Padma said, handing them to Rohini. "I buttered them."

"Thanks Padma, you two are a real gift to the world." Rohini sighed before taking a large bite, moaning at how good it tasted. "Toasts and Butter: Breakfast of champions."

"That you are." Luna laughed.

"Did you catch up with Dana?" Padma asked. "Is she alright?"

Rohini lost her smile and nimble her nails, not sure of what to do; she had already invested herself much more than Dana was probably comfortable with; she couldn't possibly spill up her darkest secret just like that, best friends or not.

"Yeah, turns out she's just punished for not handing up her homework in time." Rohini lied.

"Is that so." Luna simply said, exchanging a knowing look with Padma. Padma pinched her lips, seemed to hesitate, and just shrugged it off.

"As long as she is safe." She said, locking eyes with Rohini.

"I made sure she is." Rohini said, and something passed between the two friends. Padma looked away, sighed, and then checked her watch.

"We're going to be late to Potions, if we don't hurry up."

"God forbid getting on Snape's bad side, am I right?" Rohini joked. Padma huffed, but there was a smile lingering on her lips as the two of them headed to the dungeons.

If Rohini wanted to talk about Karkaroff's past to her brother, she didn't find the right moment until the month was over.

As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. Dana had started showing up again, though she was always followed by two unfriendly-looking students, making it hard for them to talk. Still, Rohini was glad to see her again.

Because of the weather, there were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course.

Rohini had decided to follow Harry's example by writing to Sirius, and so the grey owl that she had sent to Sirius turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way. Rohini laughed, helped it be a bit more presentable, and fed it some sausages.

It was the shortest letter she had ever received.

 _Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can._

 _-Padfoot_

"Oh, crap." Rohini said.

"Hmm?" Padma said, reading the letter her parents had sent her.

"Padfoot is back to Hogsmeade." said Rohini incredulously.

"What?" Padma said, turning her head so fast Rohini feared she broke her neck.

"He shouldn't stay so close to Hogwarts." Luna said, frowning.

"He should be fine, I doubt he will show up as anything but Padfoot." Rohini said, though she was now biting her fingers anxiously.

She really wanted to see Sirius again, and Harry probably did too, but it was going to be risky. Someone started laughing on their left, and Zoé handed her magazine to Rohini with a snort.

"I think your brother isn't going to like it." She said and Rohini frowned before grabbing the magazine- _Witch Weekly_.

As Padma and Luna leaned closer, Rohini went straight to the centre pages.

A colour photograph of Harry -weeping- headed a short piece entitled: _Harry Potter's Secret Heartache_

"I have a feeling Skeeter is after Harry, now…" Rohini said, starting to read:

 _A boy like no other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, and suffering within the paws of his nasty twin sister, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss._

 _Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."_

 _However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest._

 _"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."_

 _Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter s well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate. It is rumoured that his previous girlfriend have been charmed by his own sister –a really low betrayal, no doubt- but the poor soul hadn't manifested herself yet, probably fearing Rohini Potter's wrath._

Rohini blinked, looked at her two best friends- and burst in laugh.

"Oh my gosh." She said, tears in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, did she really write that?"

"I believe she did." Padma laughed.

"Oh, Hermione, Hermione! Why are thou such a charming witch?" Rohini said dramatically, a hand over her chest. "I cannot leave without thou love!" And she pretended to fall into Padma's arms, making her friend cry gleefully.

"I wonder if he did ask her to go visit him, though." Luna said.

"Probably." Padma nodded. "I mean, she was who he would miss the most, right? Which is kinda sad. I mean, doesn't he have friends, or family?"

"Sometimes family isn't something you will miss at all." Rohini said, thinking of the Dursleys and Dana's mother.

Before Padma could say anything, someone snatched the magazine out of her hands; it was Snape.

"I do believe you have a Potions class to attempt, Potter. Unless you'd rather dispose us of your disgrace of a presence to read magazines under the table? Ten points from Ravenclaw." Snape said, before taking a look at Harry's picture.

"The class haven't even started yet, you're still standing right here!" Rohini complained, starting to stand up but both Padma and Luna pulled on her sleeves to keep her in place.

Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "The second Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings, I see; he must have been missing all the attention centring on his little person."

An unpleasant smile raised on his thin lips as he started to read aloud, though nobody at the Ravenclaw table was laughing anymore, everybody starting to leave in a rush.

"'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache... dear, dear. Potter, what's ailing your good for nothing brother now? 'A boy like no other, perhaps...'"

The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape.

"… Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape. "I'm sure that your troubled sentimental life doesn't give you the right to skip my classes though, no matter how appreciated it would be."

"At least some people are able to get loved back." Rohini mumbled, jumping when Snape caught her shoulder and clenched it painfully.

"What did you just say, Potter?" He said between his clenched teeth.

"Bullying yet another one of your students, Severus?"

Snape dropped Rohini as if she was in fire; it was Mad-Eye, standing right behind them, lips distorted into a smirk.

"Are you having yet another problem with Potter, Severus?" Mad-Eye asked.

"Nothing of that sort." Snape said, forcing a cold smile on his lips. "I was merely making sure Miss Potter and her little friend hadn't forgotten about their Potions class."

"They don't seem' to have memory troubles to me." Mad-Eye said.

"Let's go." Padma whispered to Rohini, obviously uneasy. Rohini nodded, gave a discreet grateful smile to Professor Moody, and followed Padma out of the Great Hall.

They had a double class with the Gryffindors, and though Snape ignored Rohini for the rest of the hour, he wasn't so kind on Harry, that he made sure to humiliate by re-reading the article in front of the whole class.

"All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over-large head. Potter," said Snape quietly, once the rest of the class had settled down again; he had separated the group of friends, forcing the twins to sit right in front of his own desk.

Harry didn't answer and Rohini clenched her teeth; they both knew Snape was trying to provoke her brother. No doubt he was hoping for an excuse to take a round fifty points from Gryffindor or Ravenclaw before the end of the class.

"You might be labouring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you," Snape went on, so quietly that Rohini had trouble listening while Harry continued to pound his scarab beetles, even though he had already reduced them to a very fine powder, "but I don't care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me, Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him, just like your stupid sister."

"Jerk." Rohini coughed, low enough for only Harry to understand. Harry tipped the powdered beetles into his cauldron and started cutting up his ginger roots. His hands were shaking slightly out of anger, but he kept his eyes down, as though he couldn't hear what Snape was saying to him. Rohini discreetly touched his arm, trying to show him her support.

"So I give you fair warning, Potters," Snape continued in a sorter and more dangerous voice, "pint-sized celebrity or not - if I catch you breaking into my office one more time -"

"We haven't been anywhere near your office!" said Harry angrily, forgetting his feigned deafness. Rohini closed her eyes, grimacing. The rest of the class was now trying their best to look as far away as they could from the three of them.

"Don't lie to me," Snape hissed. "Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them."

The twins stared back at Snape. In truth, Harry hadn't stolen either of these things from Snape; Hermione and Rohini had been the ones taking the boomslang skin back in their second year - they had needed it for the Polyjuice Potion - and while Snape had suspected both twins at the time, he had never been able to prove it. Dobby, of course, had stolen the Gillyweed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry lied coldly.

"We're as innocent as you are." Rohini said slyly; they both knew Snape wasn't as white as snow.

"You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed at her. "I know it, Potter! Now, Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your behaviour! One more night-time stroll into my office, Potter, and you will pay!"

"Right," said Harry coolly, turning back to his ginger roots. "We'll bear that in mind if we ever get the urge to go in there."

Snape's eyes flashed. He plunged a hand into the inside of his black robes. For one wild moment. Rohini thought Snape was about to pull out his wand and curse them and she grabbed her own wand-but Snape drawn out a small crystal bottle of a completely clear potion instead.

"Do you know what this is, Potters?" Snape said, his eyes glittering dangerously again.

"No." said Harry. Rohini said nothing.

"It is Veritaserum - a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets for this entire class to hear," said Snape viciously. "Now, the use of this potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips" - he shook the crystal bottle slightly - "right over your evening pumpkin juice. And then. Potter… then we'll find out whether you've been in my office or not."

"Funny, you mention this." Rohini couldn't help but interfere. "Truth, you say? Maybe you should watch out your own drink; I've heard Professor Moody had quite the unusual methods to get what he wanted."

Harry coughed on her left, hiding his smile behind his sleeve. Rohini raised her eyebrows, then turned back to the ginger roots, picked up her knife, and started slicing them.

The truth was, she was too scared to stare and see Snape's reaction as she could literally feel his wrath as if she was in the lake again and his anger was the water swallowing her once more.

"You little-" Snape began.

There was a knock on the dungeon door.

"Enter." barked Snape.

The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.

"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist. He seemed to tense when his eyes fell upon Rohini and Harry and Rohini stared at him with as much disdain as she could, haven't forgiven him for torturing her friend.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson." Snape snapped.

Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door.

"Efficient." Rohini whispered to him as she left the dungeon and her brother behind, though she made sure to hold her good ear against the door as soon as it closed behind her.

"What's so urgent?" she heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff; the sound was muffled by the thick wood, but they must have move closer to the door, as far away from Harry as possible.

"This," said Karkaroff. "Well? Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since - "

"Put it away!" snarled Snape.

"But you must have noticed -" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice.

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Potter! What are you doing?"

Rohini barely had the time to move away before the door was slapped open by Karkaroff who strode out of the dungeon. He looked both worried and angry. Harry quickly followed and the twins hurried to go join their friends so that Harry could tell them what he had just witnessed.

"Karkaroff showed him something on his arm, you said?" Rohini asked, thoughtful. "I have a bad feeling about it…"

"It's not safe talking about it there; we should wait to meet up with Padfoot tomorrow for that." Hermione said, glancing at a group of Slytherin that was crossing the corridor in front of them.

"Alright." Rohini nodded.

They left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all four of them had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food Sirius had told them to bring was in Harry's bag; they had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.

"I keep telling you, carrots are awful! Why did you bring bloody carrots?" Rohini argued with Hermione.

"Vegetables are healthy, Rohini." Hermione groaned.

"Yeah, but carrots?"

"Oh, shut up." Ron said, elbowing the both of them; he was apparently still moody about Victor asking Hermione to come visit him.

"Yeah, let's go find some socks for Dobby, first." Harry said.

"And chocolates for Professor Lupin!"

"And chocolates for Professor Lupin."

They bought the most lurid socks they could find, including a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly.

Then, at half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village.

The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay.

Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar.

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when they had reached him.

"Hello, Padfoot." Rohini smiled, scratching him behind the ears.

The black dog sniffed Harry's bag eagerly, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Rohini climbed over the stile and followed.

Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but Harry and his friends were soon out of breath; only Rohini seemed pretty ok, due to her weekly jogs with Ginny and Dana.

They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun.

Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave.

Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half gray horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All three of them bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione and Rohini to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck as Sirius turned back into human.

He was wearing ragged grey robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.

"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor.

Harry pulled open his bag and handed over the bundle of chicken legs and bread.

"Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

"What?" Rohini said. "Sirius, that's not- well, serious! You should have told us, we would have mailed you some proper meals!"

Sirius laughed, the sound closer to a bark. He then grinned up at Harry, but Harry returned the grin only reluctantly.

"What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said.

"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray."

He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in the twins' face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letters... well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them.

"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" Harry kept going.

"You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg. "How is your own training going, Rohini?" He asked.

"Well, not too bad. Taking much longer than I'd like." Rohini said and Sirius smiled.

"Smart girl."

"Reckless, too." Hermione couldn't help but say. "She told Snape-"

"I told Snivellus that he was an unloved suspicious jerk." Rohini said, shrugging it off. "Well, different words, but the feeling was here."

"Good." Sirius said, beaming.

Ron nudged Harry and passed him the Daily Prophets. Rohini glanced above her brother's shoulder.

There were two: The first bore the headline _Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch_ , the second, _Ministry Witch Still Missing-Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved_.

"Hasn't been seen in public since November... house appears deserted... St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment… Ministry refuses to confirm rumours of critical illness… wow." Rohini read aloud.

"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here..."

"My brothers Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now - bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elfs," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested.

"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.

"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elfin the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together. Rohini shrugged, for she wasn't here that night.

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy."

Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

"Erm..." Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars." He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible," said Sirius.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers... Cornelius Fudge... the Malfoys..."

"The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"Why wouldn't I be surprised if it was?" Rohini said.

"Anyone else?" said Sirius.

"No one," said Harry.

"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him.

"Urg, him." Rohini said, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"

"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering Rohini to help her with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?"

"Because he obviously like sensational thing and being the sister of the worldly famous Harry Potter does add a bit of glamour to this stupid tournament." Rohini said.

"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.

"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius."Remember?" she said to Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."

"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"

"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"

"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.

"Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house -"

But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.

"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"

"Went to look in the bushes," said Harry, "but there wasn't anyone else there."

"Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf... and then he sacked her?"

"Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled -"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron.

"Oh, shut up you two! Geeze!" Rohini snapped.

Sirius shook his head and said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

"Wow, that's… deep." Rohini said. Harry elbowed her.

Sirius ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently thinking hard.

"All these absences of Barty Crouch's ... he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too... It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."

Rohini instinctively reached for the hippogriff, gulping.

"D'you know Crouch, then?" said Harry.

Sirius's face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had the night when they first met him, the night when Harry still believed Sirius to be a murderer and Rohini tried to convince everybody he wasn't.

"Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial."

"What?" said Ron and Hermione together.

"You're kidding!" said Harry.

"Son of a-" Rohini started. Hermione elbowed her, this time.

"No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know? He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical - and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on the twins' face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side ... well, you wouldn't understand ... you're too young..."

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?"

A grin flashed across Sirius's thin face.

"All right, I'll try you..." He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing. The Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere ... panic ... confusion ... that's how it used to be."

They all listened, now standing still.

"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the Dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects."

"Shit." Rohini cursed. Ron shushed her.

"I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamouring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened. ..." Sirius smiled grimly.

They leaned closer.

"Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

"Crouch's son was caught?" gasped Hermione.

"Yep," said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread, and tearing it in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while... gotten to know his own son."

He began to wolf down large pieces of bread.

"Was his son a Death Eater?" said Harry.

"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters - but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."

"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered.

Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark.

"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again - doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy... then he sent him straight to Azkaban."

"He gave his own son to the Dementors?" asked Harry quietly. Rohini shivered and squeezed Harry's hand.

"That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the Dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though… they all went quiet in the end... except when they shrieked in their sleep..."

For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius's eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them.

"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry said.

"No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."

"He died?"

"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the Dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The Dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."

Rohini felt suddenly very sick and leaned in as Harry gave her a side hug.

Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his mouth and instead picked up the flask of pumpkin juice and drained it.

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic... next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

There was a long silence.

"Must have been why Crouch had overreacted to Winky being found beneath the Dark Mark. It had brought back memories of his son, and the old scandal, and his fall from grace at the Ministry." Rohini finally said.

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius.

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius, nodding. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.

"Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.

"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."

"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry, but Hermione broke in.

"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape -"

"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledores brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him -"

"And I don't trust Dumbledore as much as you do, Hermione." Rohini agreed.

"Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?"

"I dunno - maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out-"

"What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen.

"I think you all've got a point," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at them. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."

Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.

"Rosier and Wilkes - they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges - they're a married couple - they're in Azkaban. Avery - from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse -he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater - not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."

"Karkaroff was a Death Eater." Rohini spit.

"What?!" The three others yelled.

"Dana told me." She said, before looking at Sirius. "Lyudmila Krum… is the name familiar to you?" She asked. Sirius thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Ah, yes, of course. If Karkaroff has maintained low profile about it, Krum was a real one; happily screamed it on top of her lungs, that crazy woman."

"You don't mean- Victor Krum is from a family of Death Eater?" Ron said, eyes wide opened. "Hermione, you really need to stop meddling with him!"

"They only share the same name." Rohini quickly said before her two friends start another fight. "Anyway, if Karkaroff is a Death Eater, I would bet you my right hand that Snape was one, too."

"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet." said Ron.

"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Harry quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."

"He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius, looking frankly bothered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair.

"Why, what does it mean?" Rohini asked.

Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of frustration.

"It's nothing. There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."

"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" said Ron stubbornly.

"That's totally fishy, yeah." Rohini agreed.

"Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though... he's a different matter... is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not... what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?"

Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, looking for bones he might have overlooked. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron.

"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"

Rohini snorted.

"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic... maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long..."

Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes.

"What's the time?"

"It's half past three," said Hermione.

"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Now listen..."

He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."

"No one's tried to attack me so far; it's Rohini who's at risk." Harry said.

"I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"

He handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper."

"Wait, Sirius!" Rohini said, hesitating, before hugging him tightly. "Thanks for coming to us. I- it means a lot for us."

"You're welcome. It was nice to have a Sirius talk with you." Sirius joked, making them groan. "Take care, and stay away from Karkaroff. And keep messing up with Snivellus for me, please."

"I will, cap'tain." Rohini laughed.

"Don't." Hermione scolded her.

Sirius transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile.

Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. They made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.

"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care... It'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."

"Percy would never throw any of his family to the Dementors," said Hermione severely.

"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career… Percy's really ambitious, you know..."

"I stand with Hermione on this one." Rohini said. "I mean, I think I've come to understand him a bit, spending a few days at The Burrows this summer, and talking with him. I know he doesn't show it well, but he cares about you all, Ron."

Ron shrugged, unconvinced. The four of them walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, where the delicious smells of dinner wafted toward them from the Great Hall.

"Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "Eating rats, living in a cave… he must really like you, Harry, Rohi'."

"Like Percy love his youngest brother very, very much?" Rohini teased before trying to give Ron loud kisses on the cheeks. "Oh, Ronald! Let your dear brother shows you his love!"

"Stop you, you're so gross!" Ron groaned, trying to push her away and blushing as a few girls walked passed them, giggling. "Thanks, Rohini." He spat moodily.

"You're welcome, Ronald." Rohini laughed, trying to ignore the nagging feelings that something powerful and dark was moving in the shadows, slowly getting closer to her and her brother.


	22. Chapter 22

Hi guys! Truc here!

I wanted to thank you guys for your kind reviews, you're all making my day much better. I also only realised now that ffnet was messing up with the chapters by erasing every space between the different paragraphs, making it hard to read.

So, just so you know, this story is also available on AO3, and it's not only easier to read there, but there's also links at the end of some chapters to some of my fanarts that go with them!

And back to the story now:

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Rohini was in the middle of an evening solo run around the lake when she spotted her brother, alone, walking fast to the Owlery. Sprinting to join him, she saw that he looked quite irritable and wondered what had happen with Ron and Hermione.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked, slightly out of breath. "Did the two lovebirds quarrel again?"

"Sort of. Yeah, actually. We went to get some food for Padfoot," Harry nodded at his bag, "But Hermione managed to upset the House Elves with her S.P.E.W nonsense."

"Geeze, Louise…" Rohini sighed as they started climbing the stairs of the Owlery. "I understand why she does it, honestly I do, but I can't help but think maybe she's too… straight forward? About it."

"That's one way to put it." Harry laughed. "Help me catch Pig, Ron asked me to use him."

Pigwidgeon was much too small to carry an entire ham up to the mountain by himself, so the twins enlisted the help of two school screech owls as well. When they had set off into the dusk, looking extremely odd carrying the large package between them, Harry leaned on the windowsill and Rohini did the same, looking out silently at the grounds, at the dark, rustling treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and the rippling sails of the Durmstrang ship.

An eagle owl flew through the coil of smoke rising from Hagrid's chimney; it soared toward the castle, around the Owlery, and out of sight. Looking down, Rohini saw Hagrid digging energetically in front of his cabin and elbowed her brother to show him.

"What do you reckon he's doing?" Harry asked.

"Dunno, maybe he's gonna bury some creatures' eggs or something?"

"Or a new vegetable patch. Much safer."

"Depends of what kind of seeds he uses." Rohini pointed out. "Oh, look!"

Madame Maxime emerged from the Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to Hagrid. She appeared to be trying to engage him in conversation. Hagrid leaned upon his spade, but did not seem keen to prolong their talk, because Madame Maxime returned to the carriage shortly afterward.

"Outch… end of their love story, you think?" Rohini asked.

"I don't know, I've never seen Hagrid hold a grudge for too long." Harry shrugged.

"True." Rohini said with a nod, rubbing her arms vigorously. Harry took of his cloak and handed it to her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. How are you doing?" Harry asked her.

"Not too bad; I think I'm running faster now!"

"I mean- in general. You know, with the tournament, and all of that."

"Oh!"

The question took Rohini by surprise; now that she thought about it, she hadn't talk seriously with Harry in a while. Wrapping her brother's cloak tightly around her, Rohini took a moment to think about it.

"I think- I think I'm doing better than I would have expected." She said, looking at two owls eating a few steps away. "I mean, I've just passed the second task of an extremely dangerous tournament without losing an arm or an eye. Heck, I don't even have any scars to show off."

"Aren't you scared?" Harry asked.

"I am. I- Honestly, I'm terrified. When I thought you were going to die if I failed to bring you back to the surface within an hour, I thought my whole world was going to collapse. I thought about how life would be, if you weren't there with me at Private Drive. And there was the whole Rita Skeeter thing, back to the Yule Ball. I thought- I honestly thought the consequences would have been far worse for me."

"Because you- because you like, you know, girls?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not very common, is it?"

"I don't know. I mean, I guess- well, girls are pretty so I understand why you would like them." Harry said and Rohini snorted. "What?"

"Nothing. That was just adorable of you."

"Thanks, I guess." Harry said, raising an eyebrow. "And… Padma? Does she-"

"No." Rohini said quickly, blushing. "I mean, I don't know. We… I di- I didn't say that, you know, I fancy her openly. I mean, I love her, but she is my best friend and… I don't want to lose that."

"I understand." Harry nodded. Then, he raised his hand and shuffled Rohini's hair.

"Hey!" Rohini complained. "It will look like a nest now!"

"It always looks like a nest, Rohi'." Harry laughed. Rohini puffed into his face.

"Vengeance." She said.

It was nice, to feel like a normal teenager for a moment.

 _"_ _The girl… The girl is not enough… I need… blood… the brother's… blood…"_

Rohini opened her eyes in fear, gulping for air as a terrible pain burst into her left arm that she was now clenching hard. It was the first time in months that the phantom pain showed up, but it had never been so violent, so terrible before.

Biting her lips to hold back her groans, Rohini waited for the throbbing to leave, but it lasted, getting more painful and painful, until she was left a sweating mess, tears in her eyes as she clenched her arm as tightly as she could.

Finally, the pain left.

Thandruil jumped next to her and meowed, and Rohini gave him a weak smile before scratching him behind the ears with a trembling hand.

"Hey, President avoCATdo." Rohini whispered. "How are you doing?"

Thandruil blinked slowly before snuggling against Rohini's chest.

"Cuddly, tonight? Alright."

Waiting for sleep to take her once more, Rohini tried to recall what her nightmare had been about. She had a feeling it had been something important, but all she could remember was how terrified she had been.

"Let's forget about that." She sighed. But she couldn't.

And when she woke up again a few hours later, there was still this lingering feeling of fear in the back of her mind.

If Padma noticed how tired she looked, she said nothing thought she filled Rohini's plate twice as much as usual during breakfast and forced her to drink a lot of pumpkin juice to the point Rohini had to go to the bathroom between all her morning classes.

"You need vitamin C." Was Padma's explanation.

"I also need to be able to concentrate, and wanting to pee during the whole lesson isn't helping." Rohini said moodily as they walked towards Hagrid's hut.

"Gross." Padma groaned, elbowing her.

Hagrid, who had told them last lesson that they had finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. Curious, Rohini trotted towards them to see a number of flurry black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at the class, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.

"Nifflers!" She gasped happily. Hagrid gave her a thumb up.

"These're Nifflers, yeah." said Hagrid, when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff... There yeh go, look."

One of the Nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Elliot's watch off his wrist. He shrieked and jumped backward and Zach hurried to shoosh the creature away.

"Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth the twins had watched him digging from the Owlery window. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the Niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a Nifflers, an get ready ter set 'em loose."

"I don't think I have anything valuable." Rohini said, helping Padma to take off her necklace. "It does sound interesting, though."

"Less dangerous than usual, at least." Padma whispered, glancing nervously at the Nifflers people had started to pick up.

Rohini did the same, and her Niffler climbed on top of her hair, sniffing them enthusiastically.

"Cute." Rohini laughed.

It was easily the most fun they had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures since the lesson about Hippogriffs. The Nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Elliot's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins.

"Come on, Gollum, I believe in you!" Rohini cheered.

"Gollum? Really Rohini?" Padma laughed.

"What can I say? I'm really great at naming things." Rohini said with a wink.

It turned out that Elliot and Zach's Nifflers had been most successful and ended up in a tie, so Hagrid gave them an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize to share.

"Power couple, you two." Rohini sighed and the two boys laughed, their cheeks turning red.

If things seemed back to normal at Hogwarts, it wasn't so great for Hermione; hate mail continued to arrive for her over the following weeks due to Skeeter's article, and although she followed her friends' advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn't read Witch Weekly knew all about the supposed Harry-Krum-Hermione triangle now.

After a while, Rohini and Hermione decided the best way to fight the rumour was to create something even more stupid.

"What do you mean, Hermione is dating Harry, too? I thought I was her beloved!" Rohini gasped once. "What a heartbreaker!"

Soon, many of her friends started doing the same.

"I'm sorry Elliot, but my heart has been stolen by Granger." Once said Zach in front of the whole Great Hall. Elliot fell on his knees as dramatically as he could.

"Oh, Granger, Granger, why are thou such a heartbreaker?"

The mood became much lighter, and people stopped asking Harry and Hermione if they really were dating each other behind Krum's back.

"I can't believe how both smart and stupid all of this is." Hermione laughed.

"That's Ravenclaws for you, darling." Rohini said with a wink.

"Still, I want to know how she's listening into private conversations when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" said Hermione shortly.

"Invisibility Cloak?"

"No; I asked Moody and he said he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the lake. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be... If I could just find out what it is ... ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her ..."

"Good luck with that." Rohini said. "I'd help you, but I have no time for that."

And it was true; between McGonagall special training that had become more intense and their workload that was mounting ever higher in the days before the Easter holidays, Rohini barely had a moment to catch her breath.

On Easter day, Rohini received a giant chocolate egg full of homemade toffee from Mrs. Weasley, and a bar of chocolate from Professor Lupin, who congratulated her for succeeding the second task.

"Want to share?" She asked Padma and Luna before breaking the bar in three.

"Dad is really happy to work with him." Luna said. "He said that Professor Lupin is one of the most interesting persons he has ever worked with."

"That's great!" Her friends smiled.

"It is." Luna agreed.

The start of the summer term would normally have meant that Harry was training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season, and it was quite obvious that her brother missed Quidditch a lot.

But this year, however, it was Rohini who had to train hard for the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament, nervously wondering what it was going to be about.

"Maybe it will be earth or air related." Dana said after their Sunday run. "Dragon for fire, The lake for water, it seems pretty related to elements to me."

"Oh, that's an interesting thought!" Ginny said. "Maybe it will be a Quidditch match of some sort."

"Against Krum and Cedric?" Rohini said, bemused. "I'd lose in two seconds."

Finally, in the last week of May, Professor Flitwick asked for her to stay at the end of the lesson.

"You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock, Miss Potter," he told her. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."

Rohini nodded, fearing Ginny had been right and it was going to be a Quidditch match to decide of the winner.

So at half past eight that night, Rohini said goodbye to her friends and left the Ravenclaw Tower. As she crossed the entrance hall, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room.

"What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked Rohini as they went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckons we've got to find treasure."

"I wish. Ginny thought it might be a Quidditch match."

Cedric chuckled.

"Wouldn't be very fair on you."

"Life isn't fair." Rohini said dramatically, making the older boy laugh.

They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field.

"What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stopping dead.

The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.

"They're hedges!" said Rohini, bending to examine the nearest one.

"Hello there!" called a cheery voice.

Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Krum and Fleur. Rohini and Cedric made their way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Rohini as she came nearer. Her attitude toward her had changed completely since she had saved her sister from the lake.

"Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as Rohini and Cedric climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less-than-happy expression on Cedric's face, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"

"A maze?" Rohini said.

"That's right!" said Bagman. "A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the centre of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."

"We seemply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.

"There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures... then there will be spells that must be broken... all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Rohini and Cedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter and then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"

"Huh." Rohini said, blinking; she wasn't sure "fun" was the word she would have used, considering the kind of creatures Hagrid loved to raise.

"Very well! If you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly."

"How is your sister?" Rohini asked Fleur as they wended their way out of the growing maze.

"Much better! She really admires you." Fleur said, beaming. "I'm glad she wants to follow a good role model."

"Ah, thanks." Rohini said, giggling awkwardly.

Just then, Krum tapped Rohini on the shoulder.

"Could I have a vord?"

"Yeah, all right," said Rohini, slightly surprised.

"Vill you valk vith me?"

"Okay." said Rohini curiously.

She and Krum left the stadium together, but Krum did not set a course for the Durmstrang ship. Instead, he walked toward the forest. Rohini frowned and quickly checked she had her wand in her pocket, just in case.

"What're we going this way for?" said Rohini as they passed Hagrid's cabin and the illuminated Beauxbatons carriage.

"Don't vont to be overheard." said Krum shortly.

When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of ground a short way from the Beauxbatons horses' paddock, Krum stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face Rohini.

"I vant to know," he said, glowering, "vot there is between your brother and Hermy-own-ninny."

"Oh." Rohini said, blinking. On this instant, Krum felt like a normal teenager, too. "Nothing, I swear. They are good friends, sure but- Harry loves someone else. He just doesn't like to talk about it, because she's already taken but-"

"Is that true?" Victor asked, looking less worried.

"100% true. It's just that Skeeter woman making things up; she couldn't get what she wanted for me, so she went for Harry and Hermione instead."

Krum looked slightly happier.

"You're a good person. My cousin, Bogdana- she seems happy vith you."

"And I'm happy with her. She's a great friend." Rohini said with a smile before frowning.

Something moved behind Krum in the trees, and Rohini, who had some experience of the sort of thing that lurked in the forest, instinctively grabbed Krum's arm and pulled him around.

"Vot is it?"

"Shhh." Rohini hushed him, grabbing her wand, ready to fight. "Lumos."

Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, she didn't recognize him… then she realized it was Mr. Crouch.

"Oh my god!" She yelled.

He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and grey with exhaustion. His neat hair and moustache were both in need of a wash and a trim.

His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that he alone could see. He reminded Rohini vividly of an old tramp she had seen once when out shopping with the Dursleys.

That man too had been conversing wildly with thin air; Aunt Petunia had seized Dudley's hand and pulled him across the road to avoid him; Uncle Vernon had then treated the family to a long rant about what he would like to do with beggars and vagrants.

"Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"

Rohini nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at her, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.

"... and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve…"

"Mr. Crouch?" said Rohini cautiously.

"... and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now Karkaroff's made it a round dozen... do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will..."

Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees. Rohini exchanged an alarmed look with Krum.

"Vot is wrong with him?"

"No idea," Rohini muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone -"

"Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Rohini's robes, making her yell as he dragged her closer, though his eyes were staring over Rohini's head. "Dumbledore, I need…"

"We'll get Dumbledore for you Mr. Crouch, just, please get up!" Rohini said, trying to pull him back on his feet, helped with Krum.

"I've done… stupid... thing…" Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad.

His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must… tell… Dumbledore..."

"Oh, come on!" Rohini said shortly.

Mr, Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto her.

"Who ... you?" he whispered.

"You know us, Mr. Crouch; we're Victor Krum and Rohini Potter, the champions!"

"You're not... his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging. "Dumbledore's?"

"Vot-"

"Yeah, yeah we are!" Rohini said, trying to loosen Crouch's grim on her robes. "I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me!"

"Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and ."

Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again.

"Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.S, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response..."

"Rohini, Victor!" Someone shouted behind them, and from the bushes jumped Dana; she was wearing her pyjamas, but had her cloak wrapped around her shoulders.

"Dana! How did you-"

"The map." Dana explained before turning to Mr. Crouch. "Wow, is he- is he talking to the tree?"

"We need to get help." Rohini said, glancing nervously at Mr. Crouch's pitiful form. "You stay here with him!" she said to Krum. "We'll get Dumbledore, it will be quicker, I know where his office is -"

"He is mad." said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it was Percy.

"At least you'll not have to force yourself to have a conversation with him." Dana said and Krum gave her an annoyed side glance.

"Just stay with him," said Rohini, starting to get up, but her movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized her hard around the knees and pulled Rohini back to the ground. "Outch!"

"Rohi'!" Dana shouted, kneeling next to her. "You're bleeding!" She said, pointing at Rohini's chin.

"Don't... leave... me!" Crouch whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I... escaped… must warn... must tell... see Dumbledore... my fault... all my fault... Bertha... dead... all my fault... my son... my fault... tell Dumbledore... Harry Potter... and his sister… the Dark Lord… stronger… the Potter twins..."

"Shit, he's crazy!" Dana said, helping Rohini to stand up. "Let's go. Vik', be careful of this one!"

"Hurry, von't you?" Krum called after them as the two girls sprinted away from the forest and up through the dark grounds. They were deserted; Bagman, Cedric, and Fleur had disappeared. They tore up the stone steps, through the oak front doors, and off up the marble staircase, toward the second floor.

Five minutes later they were hurtling toward a stone gargoyle standing halfway along an empty corridor.

"Sher - sherbet lemon!" Rohini panted at it.

This was the password to the hidden staircase to Dumbledore's office - or at least, it had been two years ago. The password had evidently changed, however, for the stone gargoyle did not spring to life and jump aside, but stood frozen, glaring at Rohini malevolently.

"Come one, that's an emergency!" Rohini shouted angrily before turning to a portrait of an old lady to their left. "Can you please go warn Professor Dumbledore that there's an emergency? Tell him we found Crouch!"

"POTTER!"

Snape had just emerged from the shadows. "What are you doing here, Potter?"

"I need to see Professor Dumbledore!" said Rohini.

"It's Mr. Crouch, the judge." Dana said, her eyes staring intensely at Snape.

"What is this rubbish?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering. "What are you talking about?"

The stone wall behind Snape slid open. Dumbledore was standing there, wearing long green robes and a mildly curious expression. "Is there a problem?" he said, looking between the girls and Snape.

"Professor!" Rohini said, sidestepping Snape before Snape could speak, "Mr. Crouch is here - he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!"

She expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but to his relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort.

"Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off along the corridor behind Rohini and Dana, leaving Snape standing next to the gargoyle and looking twice as ugly.

"What did Mr. Crouch say, Rohini?" said Dumbledore as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase.

"Said he wants to warn you-"

"Said he's done something terrible-"

"He mentioned his son... and Bertha Jorkins... and - and Voldemort-"

"Something about Voldemort getting stronger-"

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness.

"He's not acting normally," Rohini said, hurrying along beside Dumbledore. "He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you... I left him with Viktor Krum."

"You did?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that Rohini and Dana were running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch, except you two?"

"No, just the three of us." said Rohini. "Krum and I were talking, Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch coming out of the forest -"

"Where are they?" said Dumbledore as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.

"Over here." said Dana, moving in front of Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. They couldn't hear Crouch's voice anymore.

Dana ran faster.

"Viktor?" She shouted. "Vik'?"

No one answered.

"They were here," Rohini said to Dumbledore. "They were definitely somewhere around here!"

"Lumos," Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up. The two girls imitated him.

The narrow beams travelled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet. Dana screamed.

Krum was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch.

"Viktor!" Dana said, kneeling next to him, shaking the unconscious boy by the shoulder. "Come on', open your eyes!"

Rohini kneeled next to her friend, squeezing her hand to reassure her. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his eyelids.

"Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wandlight as he peered around at the surrounding trees.

"Should I go and get someone?" said Rohini. "Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."

He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Rohini saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird. Then Dumbledore bent over Krum again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, "Ennervate."

Krum opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still. Rohini and Dana sighed, reassured.

"Oh, thanks god you're alive." Dana said.

"He attacked me!" Krum muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he attacked from behind!"

"Lie still for a moment." Dumbledore said.

The sound of thunderous footfalls reached them, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow.

"Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Rohini - what the - ?"

"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody -"

"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here."

Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit.

"Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker… what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch -"

"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.

"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.

"Oh yeah, right y'are, Professor…" said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.

"I'll go with him." Dana said, sprinting after them.

"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."

"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest.

Neither Dumbledore nor Rohini spoke again until they heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked pale and agitated.

"What is this?" he cried when he saw Krum on the ground and Dumbledore and Rohini beside him. "What's going on?"

"I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name -"

"Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"

"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid.

"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter into the tournament, though she is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"

Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

"Wow, Hagrid, chill!" Rohini said, panicked.

"Apologize!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.

"Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.

Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head. Rohini took a deep breath, starting to shake like a leaf.

"Kindly escort Rohini back up to the castle, Hagrid." said Dumbledore sharply.

Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look.

"Maybe I'd better stay here, Headmaster."

"You will take Rohini back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. "Take her right up to Ravenclaw Tower. And Rohini - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - any owls you might want to send - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"

Rohini nodded.

"I'll leave Fang with yeh. Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Rohini."

They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle.

"How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you in the tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's bin lately. An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Rohini, who looked up at him, taken aback. "What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Rohini! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin him lure yeh off on yer own -"

"Krum's all right!" said Rohini as they climbed the steps into the entrance hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me, he just wanted to talk about Hermione – And Dana is my friend, too!"

"I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can trust any of 'em."

"You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Rohini said, annoyed.

"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of'em!"

"Well, maybe I shouldn't trust anyone here either!" Rohini snapped, before sprinting towards the castle, furious.

Why was everybody always so kin on talking about treason and fake-friendship? Too upset to talk, she went straight to bed, ignoring Padma's puzzled look as she buried her head into her pillow with a grunt.

"Tomorrow." She promised her friend; she wasn't in the mood to talk, right now.


	23. Chapter 23

Rohini spent the next morning repeating to all of her friends what she saw and heard the previous evening, again and again, to the point she grew tired of it and snapped at Harry when he asked her to repeat herself for the hundredth time.

"I'm not a parrot, Harry." She said moodily as she and the three Gryffindors hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. "Give me a break."

They were now standing at one of the openings, looking out at the misty grounds. The air was freezing cold, though it had stopped snowing at last. Rohini buried her nose further into her scarf, hoping to not catch yet another cold.

"Just go through it again one last time, please." said Harry. "What did Crouch actually say again? I just want to make sure I got it right in Padfoot's letter." He added quickly as Rohini glared at him.

"I'm _this_ close from strangling you, right now." Rohini said, holding her thumb and index against each other before sighing loudly. "I've told you, he wasn't making much sense; said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jo-something, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault, something about his son-"

"Well, that was his fault." said Hermione testily.

"True. Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive though, and he kept talking to tree-Percy about work and giving him instructions; he did call me by Percy's name at some point."

"I'd been insulted by that." Ron said, making Harry snicker. The girls gave them a tired look.

"And... remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively after clearing his throat.

"I've told you fourteen times already!" Rohini complained, hands on her hips. "He said he's getting stronger, or something. And you know what? I believe him."

There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving..."

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Rohini, and both Ron and Hermione winced at the sound of the name. "Besides- I have a feeling that Voldemort is stronger now than the last time we faced him, Harry and I. After all, his partisans are finally showing the tips of their ugly nose, right?"

"I agree with Rohini." Harry said. "I've been having the same feeling for a while."

Harry turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters and Rohini did the same. The many perches were half-empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.

"War might be closer than we thought." She whispered to her brother, low enough for Hermione and Ron to ignore it. "We might need to fight, soon."

"I'm not looking forward to it." Harry said.

"Me neither." Rohini admitted.

"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione behind them. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."

"I doubt it; the Daily Prophet would have probably written about it if he had." Rohini said.

"Shh!" said Hermione suddenly.

Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. They could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer.

"- that's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-"

"- we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did -"

"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"

"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"

The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of the twins, Ron, and Hermione.

"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.

"What, at this time?" said Rohini and Fred.

Fred grinned and the two of them high fived each other.

"Fine - we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us." He said.

He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. Rohini glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered.

"Well, don't let us hold you up." Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door.

Ron didn't move. "Who're you blackmailing?" he said.

The grin vanished from Fred's face. Harry saw George half glance at Fred, before smiling at Ron.

"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily.

"Didn't sound like that." said Ron.

Fred and George looked at each other. Then Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but -"

"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," said Ron. "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."

"Leave them alone, Ron." Rohini interfered. "Everybody have their own little secrets. I'm sure it's not as bad and illegal as it sounds. Now, let's go." And she started pushing Ron towards the stair, doing a quick thumb up at the Weasley twins.

"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "About Crouch and everything?"

"No," said Harry. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."

Ron, however, was looking uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.

"Well..." said Ron slowly, "I dunno if they would. They're... they're obsessed with making money lately, I noticed it when I was hanging around with them. It's this joke shop idea they've got," said Ron. "I thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They've only got a year left at Hogwarts, they keep going on about how it's time to think about their future, and Dad can't help them, and they need gold to get started."

"Well, it's a valid concern." Rohini said with a shrug.

Hermione was looking uncomfortable too, now.

"Yes, but... they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold."

"Wouldn't they?" said Ron, looking sceptical. "I dunno... they don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"

"Yes, but this is the law" said Hermione, looking scared. "This isn't some silly school rule... They'll get a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron... maybe you'd better tell Per-"

"Oh, cheer up, you two." Rohini groaned. "Are you listening to yourself? You make it sounds like they're planning someone's murder. Trust them a little, would you? They're tricksters, but they're not bad guys."

Hermione and Ron blushed, looking shameful.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast." Harry said.

"D'you think it's too early to go and see Professor Moody?" Hermione said as they headed toward the Main Doors.

"I decline; don't really like the guy." Rohini said with a yawn.

"He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he'll think we're trying to attack him while he's asleep. Let's give it till break." Harry said.

"What Harry said." Rohini mumbled, yawning again.

Sirius sent their owl back the very next morning. Rohini was in the process of telling a joke to Padma and Luna when Harry grabbed her by the arm and pulled her after him into the closest empty room. "You totally ruined my joke, Harry." Rohini said moodily and Harry rolled his eyes before handing her Sirius' letter. It was much longer than the previous ones:

 _Rohini_

 _What do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed and though I'm not your godfather, I consider it my duty to keep you safe, too._

 _Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, they're on their last chance. Stay close to Harry and your friends, do not leave Ravenclaw Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. You still possess the Marauders' journal, right? Use it._

 _There's nothing you can do about Crouch, and I'm saying that to both Harry and you. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again._

 _Padfoot_

 _PS: This apply to you too, Harry; do not try to go looking or Crouch, stay away from Krum and the forest, and keep an eye out for your sister._

"What?! Seriously Padfoot, seriously?! Lecturing _me_ about being out-of-bounds?" said Rohini in indignation. "After all the stuff he did at school?!"

"Yeah, that's… I would have reacted the same way." Harry agreed.

"No one's tried to attack me all year," Rohini kept going, pacing in front of the door. "No one's done anything to me at all- Well, except putting my name in the goblet, but-"

"Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you." Harry said, a shadow passing on his face.

"Nonsense." Rohini said, waving her hand as if she was chasing a bug. "If someone Stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch, they would've been in the trees near us, wouldn't they? But they waited till I was out of the way until they acted, yeah? So it doesn't look like I'm their target this time. As surprising as it sounds, not every single bad guy is after you and I."

"They couldn't have made it look like an accident if they'd murdered you in the forest." Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, but they could probably have make it looks like Krum did it." Rohini pointed out. "Like, they could have made it looks like Krum and I had a fight about the tournament, and he accidentally killed me without meaning to, and modifies his memories even so slightly to suit the story."

"You're right." Harry sighed. "I- I don't know anymore, Rohi. I'm confused, and annoyed with every adult around not seemingly taking anything seriously yet always rejecting the faults on us and just- I don't know."

"Me neither, Harry." Rohini sighed, side hugging her brother. "Me neither, and it's killing me."

A moment passed as they stood up close to each other, lost in their thoughts.

"So? What was the joke you were saying to the girls?" Harry asked, and Rohini laughed.

"Well, it was that joke Dana told me a few weeks ago-"

The Hogwarts grounds never looked more inviting than when Rohini had to stay indoors. For the next few days she spent all of his free time either in the library with Hermione, Padma, Luna and even Krum once (thought the boy had politely sat next to Hermione and said nothing), looking up hexes, or else in empty classrooms, which they sneaked into to practice, with the rest of the gang. There was also Professor McGonagall's training, getting more and more intense as the year went by and also more frustrating, for Rohini felt like she was making no progresses.

"Next lesson will be the Impediment Curse." Professor McGonagall informed her. "I'd appreciate if you read about it beforehand."

"Yes, Professor." Rohini said, trying not to sound as unhappy as she felt.

Another problem was the recurrent nightmare that she could never remember, but awoke the phantom pain in her arm. Rohini decided to keep it a secret, but she knew that it was related to Voldemort somehow. The more painful it got, the more fearful she grew about seeing him back to his full strength, ready to drop chaos over the world.

Having to excuse herself during a Herbology lesson to go to the bathroom, Rohini was surprised to spot her brother a few steps away, looking terrible and walking fast. Frowning, she started following him and saw him walking right past the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office before blinking, looking around, realizing what he had done, and retracing his steps, stopping in front of it.

"You do realise you don't know the password, right?" Rohini said, making him jump.

"Way to do a dramatic entrance, Rohini." Harry said moodily with a hand over his chest as Rohini stepped closer. "What are you doing here? I thought you had a class in the greenhouse."

"What are _you_ doing here? I thought you had divination." Rohini said on the same tone, crossing her arms over her flat chest. The twins stared at each other until Harry sighed loudly, giving up.

"It's- My scar might have acted up. I… I think…I think I heard, saw, whatever- Voldemort. He wasn't alone; there was worm- Pettigrew, too." Harry said.

Rohini turned blemish.

"That's not good, we need to- yeah, talk to Dumbledore I guess." She said nervously, and the two of them started shouting random candy brand names at the gargoyle.

"Pear Drop. Er - Licorice Wand. Fizzing Whizbee-"

"Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans ... oh no, he doesn't like them, does he?-"

"Chocolate Frog, Sugar Quill! Cockroach Cluster!"

The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. The twins blinked.

"Cockroach Cluster?" Harry said, amazed. "I was only joking..."

They hurried through the gap in the walls and stepped onto the foot of a spiral stone staircase, which moved slowly upward as the doors closed behind them, taking them up to a polished oak door with a brass door knocker.

They could hear voices from inside the office. Rohini stepped off the moving staircase but Harry grabbed her by the sleeve and brought a shushing finger to his lips. Raising an eyebrow, Rohini went still and listened.

"Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. "Ludo says Berthas perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty Crouch's!"

"And what do you thinks happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" said Moody's growling voice.

"I see two possibilities, Alastor," said Fudge. "Either Crouch has finally cracked -more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history - lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere -"

"He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Or else - well..." Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"

"I consider her to be a very able headmistress - and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Dumbledore, come!" said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favour because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless - if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got -"

"Asshole." Rohini spat in a low, angry voice. Harry elbowed her, though he looked just as angry.

"I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," said Dumbledore, just as calmly. "I think it possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."

"Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody.

"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently.

"No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that the Potters want a word with you, Dumbledore. They are just outside the door."

"Shit." Rohini whispered, her face suddenly burning from shame as she face palmed; she had forgotten about Mad Eye's ability to see through everything.

The door of the office opened and she straightened up, forcing a nervous, fake casual smile on her face.

"Hello, Potters," said Moody. "Come in, then."

The twins looked down as they walked inside. Rohini had been inside Dumbledore's office once before; it was a very beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts, all of whom were fast asleep, their chests rising and falling gently. Considering how early it was, Rohini wondered if it was due to their old age or boredom.

Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore's desk, wearing his usual pinstriped cloak and holding his lime-green bowler hat. Rohini didn't return his smile as he moved forward.

"Harry, Rohini!" said Fudge jovially. "How are you?"

"Fine," Harry lied.

"Surviving." Rohini said, deadpan. Fudge made a funny face at the choice of word.

"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"

"Krum and me, yeah. Dana found us a bit later, so she saw him, too." said Rohini. Then, feeling petty, she added, "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"

Dumbledore smiled at her behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling and Harry hide his smile with a cough.

"Yes, well," said Fudge, looking embarrassed, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, if you'll excuse us... perhaps if you just go back to your class -"

"I wanted to talk to you, Professor," Harry said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look.

"I'm keeping him company." Rohini added. "You know, sibling solidarity."

"Wait here for me, Harry, Rohini." Dumbledore said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."

They trooped out in silence past the twins and closed the door. After a minute or so, they heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. Harry looked around.

"Hello, Fawkes." he said and Rohini turned her head before smiling.

Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on his golden perch beside the door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked benignly at the twins. Rohini walked closer and gently pet him, and the bird closed his eyes in contentment.

Meanwhile, Harry sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. For several minutes, he sat and watched the old headmasters and headmistresses snoozing in their frames, running his fingers over his scar while Rohini spied on him with a worried expression.

"I'm not going to faint if you look away, you know." Harry said and Rohini huffed, but stopped watching him so closelu and looked around instead. The patched and ragged Sorting Hat was standing on a shelf. A glass case next to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies set into the hilt, which Rohini recognised as Godric Gryffindor's sword, the one she used to kill the Basilisk in second year.

She was gazing at it, remembering how it had come to the twins' aid when they had thought all hope was lost, when Rohini noticed a patch of silvery light, dancing and shimmering on the glass case.

She looked around for the source of the light and saw a sliver of silver-white shining brightly from within a black cabinet behind Harry, whose door had not been closed properly.

"Hey, Harry, look." Rohini said, walking closer. Harry got up, walked across the office, and hesitated before pulling open the cabinet door.

"I didn't plan to go that far, but let's take a look." Rohini said with a mischievous grin.

A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols that Rohini did not entirely recognize; it was a much more advanced level than the one she was at currently. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which were like nothing Rohini had ever seen before.

She could not tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid - or like wind made solid.

"On a scale to Ron's morning breath to Malfoy's ego, how bad would it be to touch it?" Rohini asked.

"As bad as your own morning breath." Harry said with a smirk and Rohini slapped his arm with an offended gasp.

Laughing, Harry bent closer, his head right inside the cabinet. The silvery substance had become transparent; it looked like glass. Rohini pushed him slightly and looked down into it, expecting to see the stone bottom of the basin - and saw instead an enormous room below the surface of the mysterious substance, a room into which she seemed to be looking through a circular window in the ceiling.

"Neat…" She whispered, leaning closer.

The room was mostly in the shadows; she thought it might even be underground, for there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. Lowering her face so that her nose was a mere inch away from the glassy substance, Rohini saw that rows and rows of witches and wizards were seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels.

"I wonder who they are." She whispered, as if all those people could somehow hear her.

An empty chair stood in the very centre of the room. There was something about the chair that gave her an ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as though its occupants were usually tied to it.

"This looks like a torture device." She said to Harry, who nodded silently. "Wonder what's that for."

The crowd in the mysterious room at the bottom of the basin was comprised of grim looking people that seemed, she thought, to be waiting for something; even though she could only see the tops of their hats, all of their faces seemed to be pointing in one direction, and none of them were talking to one another.

The basin being circular, and the room he was observing square, Rohini could not make out what was going on in the corners of it. She leaned even closer, tilting her head, trying to see, imitated by Harry… And suddenly the tip of her nose touched the strange substance into which they were both staring.

"Oops." Rohini said as she instinctively grabbed Harry before Dumbledore's office gave an almighty lurch – Rohini felt she was thrown forward and pitched headfirst into the substance inside the basin -But her head did not hit the stone bottom.

Yelling, she was now falling through something icy-cold and black; it was like being sucked into a dark whirlpool -And suddenly, Rohini found herself sitting on a bench at the end of the room inside the basin, a bench raised high above the others, Harry slightly paler than usual sitting next to her.

The twins looked up at the high stone ceiling, expecting to see the circular window through which he had just been staring, but there was nothing there but dark, solid stone.

"Oh shit, what did we do?" Rohini asked, breathing hard and fast. "Was it- was it a Portkey?"

"I- I don't know.' Harry said, glancing around in panic.

Surprisingly, not one of the witches and wizards in the room (and there were at least two hundred of them) was looking at them. Not one of them seemed to have noticed that two fourteen-year-olds had just dropped from the ceiling into their midst. Harry turned to the wizard next to him on the bench and uttered a loud cry of surprise that reverberated around the silent room, making Rohini yell in return- They were sitting right next to Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor!" Harry panicked, "I'm sorry - We didn't mean to -we were just looking at that basin in your cabinet - I - where are we?"

But Dumbledore didn't move or speak. He ignored Harry completely. Like every other wizard on the benches, he was staring into the far corner of the room, where there was a door.

"Okaaaay?" Rohini said, confused.

The twins gazed, nonplussed, at Dumbledore, then around at the silently watchful crowd, then back at Dumbledore.

"Do you think- do you think we are scrying or something?" Rohini asked tentatively. "Like, we can see them but they can't see us?"

"But Dumbledore- they went to the forest, right?" Harry pointed out.

"Then… some kind of, I don't know, memory?" Rohini suggested again; she had been able to see one of Tom Riddle's memories locked inside his journal, after all.

Harry raised his right hand, hesitated, and then waved it energetically in from of Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore did not blink, look around at Harry, or indeed move at all.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Harry agreed.

Rohini looked around once more. The room was more of a dungeon than a room, she thought. There was a bleak and forbidding air about the place; there were no pictures on the walls, no decorations at all; just these serried rows of benches, rising in levels all around the room, all positioned so that they had a clear view of that chair with the chains on its arms.

"It's so gloomy." She sighed.

Before Harry could say anything, they heard footsteps. The door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three people entered - or at least one man, flanked by two Dementors.

Rohini instinctively reached for her wand. The Dementors - tall, hooded creatures whose faces were concealed - were gliding slowly toward the chair in the centre of the room, each grasping one of the man's arms with their dead and rotten-looking hands. The man between them looked as though he was about to faint, and Rohini couldn't blame him. The watching crowd recoiled slightly as the Dementors placed the man in the chained chair and glided back out of the room. The door swung shut behind them.

"Hold on a second… is that Karkaroff?" Harry said and Rohini gasped when she recognised him, too.

Unlike Dumbledore, Karkaroff looked much younger; his hair and goatee were black. He was not dressed in sleek furs, but in thin and ragged robes. He was shaking. Even as Rohini watched, the chains on the arms of the chair glowed suddenly gold and snaked their way up Karkaroff's arms,binding him there.

"Woah!" Rohini yelped, jumping on her seat.

"Igor Karkaroff," said a curt voice to the twins' left. Rohini looked around and saw Mr. Crouch standing up in the middle of the bench beside them. Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us."

Karkaroff straightened himself as best he could, tightly bound to the chair.

"I have, sir," he said, and although his voice was very scared, Rohini could still hear the familiar unctuous note in it. "I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I - I know that the Ministry is trying to - to round up the last of the Dark Lords supporters. I am eager to assist in any way I can..."

"Liar." Rohini breathed. "He just wants to save his ass."

There was a murmur around the benches. Some of the wizards and witches were surveying Karkaroff with interest, others with pronounced mistrust. Then Rohini heard, quite distinctly, from Dumbledore's other side, a familiar, growling voice saying, "Filth."

The twins leaned forward so that they could see past Dumbledore. Mad-Eye Moody was sitting there - except that there was a very noticeable difference in his appearance. He did not have his magical eye, but two normal ones. Both were looking down upon Karkaroff, and both were narrowed in intense dislike.

"Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the Dementors."

Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose.

"Ah, I was forgetting... you don't like the Dementors, do you, Albus?" said Moody with a sardonic smile.

"No," said Dumbledore calmly, "I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."

"But for filth like this?" Moody said softly.

"Oh shut up." Rohini said, annoyed.

"Shhh." Harry shushed her.

"You say you have names for us, Karkaroff," said Mr. Crouch. "Let us hear them, please."

"You must understand," said Karkaroff hurriedly, "that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy... He preferred that we - I mean to say, his supporters - and I regret now, very deeply, that I ever counted myself among them -"

"Get on with it," sneered Moody.

"- we never knew the names of every one of our fellows - He alone knew exactly who we all were -"

"Which was a wise move, wasn't it, as it prevented someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them in," muttered Moody.

"Yet you say you have some names for us?" said Mr. Crouch.

"I - I do," said Karkaroff breathlessly. "And these were important supporters, mark you. People I saw with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce him, and am filled with a remorse so deep I can barely -"

"These names are?" said Mr. Crouch sharply.

Karkaroff drew a deep breath.

"There was Antonin Dolohov," he said. "I - I saw him torture countless Muggles and - and non-supporters of the Dark Lord."

"And helped him do it." murmured Moody.

"We have already apprehended Dolohov," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after yourself."

"Indeed?" said Karkaroff, his eyes widening. "I - I am delighted to hear it!"

But he didn't look it. Rohini sneered disdainfully. One of his names was worthless.

"Any others?" said Crouch coldly.

"Why, yes ... there was Rosier," said Karkaroff hurriedly. "Evan Rosier."

"Rosier is dead," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after you were too. He preferred to fight rather than come quietly and was killed in the struggle."

"Took a bit of me with him, though," whispered Moody to Harry's right.

"No - no more than Rosier deserved!" said Karkaroff, a real note of panic in his voice now. Rohini could see that he was starting to worry that none of his information would be of any use to the Ministry. Karkaroff's eyes darted toward the door in the corner, behind which the Dementors undoubtedly still stood, waiting.

"Any more?" said Crouch.

"Yes!" said Karkaroff. "There was Travers - he helped murder the McKinnons! Mulciber -he specialized in the Imperius Curse, forced countless people to do horrific things! Rookwood, who was a spy, and passed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from inside the Ministry itself!"

Rohini could tell that, this time, Karkaroff had struck gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring together.

"Rookwood?" said Mr. Crouch, nodding to a witch sitting in front of him, who began scribbling upon her piece of parchment. "Augustus Rookwood of the Department of Mysteries?"

"The very same," said Karkaroff eagerly. "I believe he used a network of well-placed wizards, both inside the Ministry and out, to collect information -"

"But Travers and Mulciber we have," said Mr. Crouch. "Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will be returned to Azkaban while we decide -"

"Not yet!" cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. "Wait, I have more!"

Rohini could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard.

"Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!"

"I KNEW IT!" Rohini shouted. "I KNEW IT!"

"Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore."

"No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"

Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.

"I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."

"Very well, Karkaroff," Crouch said coldly, "you have been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will return to Azkaban in the meantime. ..."

Mr. Crouch's voice faded. Rohini looked around; the dungeon was dissolving as though it were made of smoke; everything was fading; he could see only his own body - all else was swirling darkness-

And then, the dungeon returned. The twins were sitting in a different seat, still on the highest bench, but now to the left side of Mr. Crouch. The atmosphere seemed quite different: relaxed, even cheerful. The witches and wizards all around the walls were talking to one another, almost as though they were at some sort of sporting event.

Rohini noticed a witch halfway up the rows of benches opposite. She had short blonde hair, was wearing magenta robes, and was sucking the end of an acid-green quill. It was, unmistakably, a younger Rita Skeeter.

"Urg, not her." Rohini groaned.

Dumbledore was sitting beside them again, wearing different robes. Mr. Crouch looked more tired and somehow fiercer, gaunter. It was a different memory, a different day ... a different trial.

The door in the corner opened, and Ludo Bagman walked into the room.

This was not, however, a Ludo Bagman gone to seed, but a Ludo Bagman who was clearly at the height of his Quidditch-playing fitness. His nose wasn't broken now; he was tall and lean and muscular. Bagman looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair, but it did not bind him there as it had bound Karkaroff, and Bagman, perhaps taking heart from this, glanced around at the watching crowd, waved at a couple of them, and managed a small smile.

"What kind of goofy joke is that?" Rohini asked, bemused.

"Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to the activities of the Death Eaters," said Mr. Crouch. "We have heard the evidence against you, and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we pronounce judgment?"

Rohini and Harry exchanged a shocked look.

"Only," said Bagman, smiling awkwardly, "well - I know I've been a bit of an idiot -"

One or two wizards and witches in the surrounding seats smiled indulgently. Mr. Crouch did not appear to share their feelings. He was staring down at Ludo Bagman with an expression of the utmost severity and dislike.

"You never spoke a truer word, boy," someone muttered dryly to Dumbledore behind the twins.

Rohini looked around and saw Moody sitting there again. "If I didn't know he'd always been dim, I'd have said some of those Bludgers had permanently affected his brain..."

"Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters,"said Mr. Crouch. "For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than -"

But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding benches. Several of the witches and wizards around the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even their fists, at .

"But I've told you, I had no idea!" Bagman called earnestly over the crowd's babble, his round blue eyes widening. "None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of my dad's-never crossed my mind he was in with You-Know-Who! I thought I was collecting information for our side! And Rookwood kept talking about getting me a job in the Ministry later on ... once my Quidditch days are over, you know ... I mean, I can't keep getting hit by Bludgers for the rest of my life, can I?"

There were titters from the crowd.

"God, I hate him." Rohini said, grimacing. "I didn't expect him to be so shallow."

"It will be put to the vote," said Mr. Crouch coldly. He turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon. "The jury will please raise their hands... those in favour of imprisonment..."

Rohini looked toward the right-hand side of the dungeon. Not one person raised their hand. Many of the witches and wizards around the walls began to clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up.

"Yes?" barked Crouch.

"We'd just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday," the witch said breathlessly.

Rohini scoffed.

"Are all adults so freaking dumb, idiotic, useless people?" She asked as she shook her head. "That's so annoying."

Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and bowed, beaming.

"Despicable," Mr. Crouch spat at Dumbledore, sitting down as Bagman walked out of the dungeon. "Rookwood get him a job indeed... The day Ludo Bagman joins us will be a sad day indeed for the Ministry-"

And the dungeon dissolved again. When it had returned, Rohini was looking moody, hoping to go back to reality soon. She, Harry and Dumbledore were still sitting beside Mr. Crouch, but the atmosphere could not have been more different. There was total silence, broken only by the dry sobs of a frail, wispy-looking witch in the seat next to Mr. Crouch. She was clutching a handkerchief to her mouth with trembling hands.

Rohini looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.

"Bring them in," he said, and his voice echoed through the silent dungeon.

The door in the corner opened yet again. Six Dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four people. Rohini saw the people in the crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one another.

The Dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified.

He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief.

Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face.

"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," he said clearly, "so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous -"

"Father," said the boy with the straw-colored hair. "Father, please-"

"- that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court," said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice.

"Wait, that's his son?!" Harry asked.

"Wow." Rohini breathed.

"We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror - Frank Longbottom - and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -"

"Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. "I didn't, I swear it. Father, don't send me back to the Dementors -"

It was a pitiful sight and though Rohini had no pity for the boy, she couldn't help but look away.

"You are further accused," bellowed Mr. Crouch, "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury -"

"Mother!" screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. Rohini closed her eyes, unable to look at the poor woman. "Mother, stop him. Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"

"I now ask the jury," shouted Mr. Crouch, "to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"

Rohini opened her eyes again. In unison, the witches and wizards along the right-hand side of the dungeon raised their hands. The crowd around the walls began to clap as it had for Bagman, their faces full of savage triumph. The boy began to scream.

"No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!"

The Dementors were gliding back into the room.

The boys' three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"

But the boy was trying to fight off the Dementors, even though the twins could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle.

"I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!"

"You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!"

The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed. Rohini instinctively tried to reach for her, but it was impossible.

"Take them away!" Crouch roared at the Dementors, spit flying from his mouth. "Take them away, and may they rot there!"

"Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!"

"I think. Harry, Rohini, it is time to return to my office," said a quiet voice.

Rohini jumped out of her skin. Albus Dumbledore was sitting on their right, watching Crouch's son being dragged away by the Dementors - and there was an Albus Dumbledore on their left, looking right at them.

"Come," said the Dumbledore on the left, and he put his hands under each twin's elbow. Rohini felt herself rising into the air; the dungeon dissolved around her and for a moment, all was blackness, and then she felt as though she had done a slow-motion somersault, suddenly landing flat on her feet, in what seemed like the dazzling light of Dumbledore's sunlit office. The stone basin was shimmering in the cabinet in front of them and Dumbledore was standing beside the twins.

"Professor," Harry gasped, "I know we shouldn't've - we didn't mean - the cabinet door was sort of open and -"

"We were a tiny wee bit curious." Rohini admitted.

"I quite understand," said Dumbledore. He lifted the basin, carried it over to his desk, placed it upon the polished top, and sat down in the chair behind it. He motioned for Harry and Rohini to sit down opposite him.

"What is it?" Harry asked shakily, nodding at the basin.

"This? It is called a Pensieve," said Dumbledore. "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."

"Er," said Harry.

"Yeah." Rohini agreed.

"At these times," said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."

"You mean... that stuff's your thoughts?" Harry said, staring at the swirling white substance in the basin.

"Neat." Rohini said.

"Certainly," said Dumbledore. "Let me show you."

Dumbledore drew his wand out of the inside of his robes and placed the tip into his own silvery hair, near his temple. When he took the wand away, hair seemed to be clinging to it - but then Rohini saw that it was in fact a glistening strand of the same strange silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve.

Dumbledore added this fresh thought to the basin, and Rohini, astonished, saw her and Harry's face swimming around the surface of the bowl. Dumbledore placed his long hands on either side of the Pensieve and swirled it, rather as a gold prospector would pan for fragments of gold... and Rohini saw her own face change smoothly into Snape's, who opened his mouth and spoke to the ceiling, his voice echoing slightly.

"It's coming back... Karkaroff's too... stronger and clearer than ever..."

"A connection I could have made without assistance," Dumbledore sighed, "but never mind."

"Professor…" Rohini started, before hesitating.

Dumbledore peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles at her and Harry, who was gaping at Snape's face, which was continuing to swirl around the bowl, then at Rohini.

"Yes, Rohini?" He said patiently.

"Nevermind." Rohini said quickly, though the question about Snape's past was burning her tongue like Basilisk's venom. "So, a Pensieve?"

"I was using the Pensieve when arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily. Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your attention."

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled. Rohini didn't apologise, for she wasn't feeling sorry at all.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Curiosity is not a sin," he said. "But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... yes, indeed ..."

Frowning slightly, he prodded the thoughts within the basin with the tip of his wand.

Instantly, a figure rose out of it, a plump, scowling girl of about sixteen, who began to revolve slowly, with her feet still in the basin. She took no notice whatsoever of the twins or Professor Dumbledore.

When she spoke, her voice echoed as Snape's had done, as though it were coming from the depths of the stone basin. "He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday-"

"But why, Bertha," said Dumbledore sadly, looking up at the now silently revolving girl, "why did you have to follow him in the first place?"

"Bertha?" Harry whispered, "Is that - was that Bertha Jorkins?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, prodding the thoughts in the basin again; Bertha sank back into them, and they became silvery and opaque once more. "That was Bertha as I remember her at school."

The silvery light from the Pensieve illuminated Dumbledore's face, and it struck Rohini suddenly how very old he was looking.

"Did you find any clues in the forest, Professor?" Rohini asked. Dumbledore's features appeared suddenly much older as he shook his head.

"I'm afraid not." He sighed.

"Ah." Rohini said, looking down at her hands. A moment passed, slightly awkward.

"So, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "Before you got lost in my thoughts, you wanted to tell me something."

"Yes," said Harry. "Professor - I was in Divination just now, and - er - I fell asleep."

Rohini couldn't hold back her ugly snort.

Harry hesitated here, but Dumbledore merely said, "Quite understandable. Continue."

"Well, I had a dream," said Harry. "A dream about Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail... you know who Wormtail-"

"I do know," said Dumbledore promptly. "Please continue."

"Voldemort got a letter from an owl. He said something like, Wormtail's blunder had been repaired. He said someone was dead. Then he said, Wormtail wouldn't be fed to the snake - there was a snake beside his chair. He said - he said he'd be feeding Rohini to it, instead. Then he did the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail - and my scar hurt," Harry said. "It woke me up, it hurt so badly."

"I see," said Dumbledore quietly. "I see. Now, has your scar hurt at any other time this year, excepting the time it woke you up over the summer?"

"No, I - how did you know it woke me up over the summer?" said Harry, astonished.

"You are not Sirius's only correspondent," said Dumbledore. "I have also been in contact with him ever since he left Hogwarts last year. It was I who suggested the mountainside cave as the safest place for him to stay."

"Wait, what?" Rohini said with a frown. "Hold on a second-" She said slowly, "You were the one telling Sirius, Harry's godfather, to live in a cave?"

"Rohini…" Harry warned her, but Rohini ignored him.

"-Where he is spending his days as a dog, feeding on rats? You –Professor- who probably have enough power to get him a proper little cottage under a fake name?"

"Rohini…" Harry whispered more insistently, tugging on her sleeve and silently begging her to shut up.

"I dare you to tell me I'm wrong." Rohini snapped at him in a low, angry whisper.

Dumbledore got up and began walking up and down behind his desk. Every now and then, he placed his wand tip to his temple, removed another shining silver thought, and added it to the Pensieve. The thoughts inside began to swirl so fast that Rohini couldn't make out anything clearly, but she didn't care. Jaw tensed, she waited for Dumbledore to say something, anything, preferably an apology.

"Professor?" Harry said quietly, after a couple of minutes.

Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at the twins.

"My apologies," he said quietly. He sat back down at his desk. "To both of you, and to Sirius. But you have to understand, Rohini-" he was now looking at her above his glasses, "that life isn't always fair, and sometimes can be the most unpleasant. I assure you this solution isn't pleasing me at all, but it is for the best."

Rohini said nothing, but her jaw muscle tensed up as she crossed her arms stubbornly and looked away.

"Professor, d'you - d'you know why my scar's hurting me?" Harry asked, obviously uncomfortable with the current situation.

Dumbledore looked very intently at Harry for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that. It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."

"He isn't near us right now, isn't he?" Rohini asked warily.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar."

"So you think… that dream Harry had... did it really happen?" Rohini asked, exchanging a glance with her brother.

"It is possible," said Dumbledore. "I would say - probable. Harry - did you see Voldemort?"

"No," said Harry. "Just the back of his chair. But - there wouldn't have been anything to see, would there? I mean, he hasn't got a body, has he? But... but then how could he have held the wand?" Harry said slowly.

"How indeed?" muttered Dumbledore. "How indeed…"

"Maybe he found a way to grow it back. His body, I mean." Rohini said, not liking the sound of it at all.

Dumbledore was gazing across the room, and, every now and then, placing his wand tip to his temple and adding another shining silver thought to the seething mass within the Pensieve.

"Professor," Harry said at last, "do you think he's getting stronger?"

"Voldemort?" said Dumbledore, looking at the twins over the Pensieve. It was the characteristic, piercing look Dumbledore had given them on other occasions, and always made Rohini feel as though Dumbledore were seeing right through her in a way that even Moody's magical eye could not. "Once again, Harry, I can only give you my suspicions."

Dumbledore sighed again, and he looked older, and wearier, than ever.

"The years of Voldemort's ascent to power," he said, "were marked with disappearances. Bertha Jorkins has vanished without a trace in the place where Voldemort was certainly known to be last. Mr. Crouch too has disappeared . . . within these very grounds. And there was a third disappearance, one which the Ministry, I regret to say, do not consider of any importance, for it concerns a Muggle. His name was Frank Bryce, he lived in the village where Voldemort's father grew up, and he has not been seen since last August. You see, I read the Muggle newspapers, unlike most of my Ministry friends."

Rohini shivered as Dumbledore looked very seriously at the twins.

"These disappearances seem to me to be linked. The Ministry disagrees - as you may have heard, while waiting outside my office."

Harry nodded but Rohini did nothing, only stared. Silence fell between them again, Dumbledore extracting thoughts every now and then.

"Professor?" Harry said again.

"Yes, Harry?" said Dumbledore.

"Er ... could I ask you about... that court thing I was in... in the Pensieve?"

"You could," said Dumbledore heavily. "I attended it many times, but some trials come back to me more clearly than others ... particularly now..."

"You know - you know the trial you found me in? The one with Crouch's son? Well...were they talking about Neville's parents?"

Rohini leaned closer to the desk.

Dumbledore gave Harry a very sharp look. "Has Neville never told you why he has been brought up by his grandmother?" he said.

The twins shook their head.

"Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," said Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."

"That's awful." Rohini breathed, suddenly feeling very cold.

"So they're dead?" said Harry quietly.

"No," said Dumbledore, his voice full of a bitterness neither Harry or Rohini had never heard there before. "They are insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do not recognize him."

Rohini covered her mouth in horror and the hair on her arms stood up.

"The Longbottoms were very popular," said Dumbledore. "The attacks on them came after Voldemort's fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe. Those attacks caused a wave of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was under great pressure to catch those who had done it. Unfortunately, the Longbottoms' evidence was - given their condition - none too reliable."

"Then Mr. Crouch's son might not have been involved?" said Harry slowly.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"As to that, I have no idea."

The twins sat in silence once more, watching the contents of the Pensieve swirl.

"Er," Harry said again, "Mr. Bagman . .."

"... has never been accused of any Dark activity since," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Right," said Harry hastily, staring at the contents of the Pensieve again, which were swirling more slowly now that Dumbledore had stopped adding thoughts. "And... er ..."

"No more has Professor Snape." Dumbledore said. Rohini snorted. "Yes, Rohini?" Dumbledore asked, patiently but tiredly.

"Pardon me, Professor, but I don't think Sniv- Professor Snape's attitude toward any student that isn't a Slytherin can be qualified as honourable either." She said, knowing she might be pushing a bit too far this time.

Dumbledore held her gaze for a few seconds, and then said, "I will make sure to remember that."

Rohini knew that the interview was over; Dumbledore did not look angry, yet there was a finality in his tone that told them it was time to go. Both twin stood up, and so did Dumbledore.

"Harry, Rohini," he said as they reached the door. "Please do not speak about Neville's parents to anybody else. He has the right to let people know, when he is ready."

"Yes, Professor," said Harry, turning to go.

"And, Rohini-"

The twins looked back. Dumbledore was standing over the Pensieve, his face lit from beneath by its silvery spots of light, looking older than ever. He stared at Rohini for a moment, and then said, "Good luck with the third task."

"Thank you, Professor."

And then, the door closed behind them.

"What the heck, Rohi?!" Harry asked angrily, taking Rohini by surprise.

"What did I do now?"

"You're- you need to be more tactful!" Harry scolded her, pacing the corridor and waving his hands as he gave her a big brother lesson. "Have you heard yourself? If it had been Professor McGonagall or Professor Moody, you would have been turned into a ferret or a frog!"

"Oh come on, don't give me that!" Rohini said, pointing a dramatic finger at her brother. "I dare you to tell me you weren't thinking the same! Padfoot is your godfather, don't ya' care about him?"

"Of course I do!" Harry shouted. A ghost that was coming their way stopped, stared at them in confusion, and took the opposite direction. "Geeze, why can't you- Listen. I get why you're angry and all- I am too! But you need to trust Dumbledore a little."

"Don't you think you're the one trusting him a little too much?" Rohini asked with a daring tone.

"You're being a real Dudley level of pain right now, Rohi'." Harry said and the two Potters stared at each other in silence stubbornly before Harry rolled his eyes in defeat. "I give up. Talking to you really feel like talking to a wall, sometimes."

"The feeling is mutual." Rohini lied. "You're done being the role model big brother now? Because I have classes to attempt. Bye." And she took the direction of the main hall.

"Rohini, wait!"

But she didn't. Yes, most of the time, Rohini Lily Potter could show some wisdom. But some other time, she acted just as any other teenagers going through puberty, surrounded by adults that will never really see eye to eye with them.


	24. Chapter 24

_Dear Professor Lupin,_

 _I apologise for writing to you as you might be busy, but I need someone to talk to and I know I can trust your advices. In other circumstances, I would have write to Padfoot, but I happen to be slightly crossed with him right now._

Rohini stopped, bite her tongue with a frown before starting to write again as she absently patted Thandruil, who was asleep on her laps.

 _I don't know how much you know about the current, very bizarre situation at Hogwarts; a few nights ago, just after learning what the Third Task consisted of, I had a talk with the Durmstrang champion Viktor Krum when we were shocked to be interrupted by Mr. Crouch, who had been missing for a while. But he wasn't like his usual self; the man was completely mad, talking to trees and all, except for one moment when he seemed panicked about Voldemort's return._

 _As me and Dana (Krum's cousin) ran to warn Professor Dumbledore, Crouch petrified Krum and volatilised from the castle's grounds._

Rohini stopped again, this time biting her nails as she wondered how much she should tell to her former DADA teacher; it is true Professor Lupin wouldn't be able to do much for her, but she had to get everything off her chest, and since she refused to talk to both Sirius and Harry –and didn't want to worry her friends-, Professor Lupin was the first person that came to her mind.

Nodding, she started writing again.

 _But it's not the only thing troubling me; two days ago, I bumped into Harry who was on his way to Dumbledore's office, for he had just fainted in class as he had a disturbing vision of Voldemort and_ _Worm_ _Pettigrew. Long story short, we found ourselves waiting for Professor Dumbledore to come back when we accidentally found our way right down into his Pensieve._

 _The memories we stumbled upon were all about trials Mr. Crouch had assisted, one of them concerning his own son. As the memories went on, we learned a few worrying things; for example, Karkaroff isn't the only ex Death Eater now teaching too many students to my liking; it seems that Snape was one of them too._

 _Professor, I know Dumbledore is one of the brightest wizards of his time, but I can't help but worry; I don't –and will never- trust Snape. What if Dumbledore is wrong about him? What if he isn't as redeemable as he seems to think he is? Also, it seems very unfair to me that Death Eater can be teachers when awesome, kind, understanding people like you have to resign (Everybody still miss you very much)._

 _I apologise once more for coming to you with such silly worries, but I really needed to get it off my chest. I hope you will enjoy the Honeydukes chocolate bar joined to this letter._

 _Have a lovely day,_

 _Rohini Potter_

Satisfied, Rohini put her letter into an envelope on which she wrote Professor Lupin's name before gently pushing Thranduil off her laps. Her cat meowed indignantly before making its way to Padma's bed.

Her best friend had been spending the afternoon at the library with Parvati to help her study for their upcoming exams, which would take place on the day of the third task. Rohini sighed loudly at the thought, thinking how much she'd rather be taking them rather than be Hogwarts' second champion.

"It will be over soon." She said to herself as she picked up her cloak and put the chocolate bar in her pocket before leaving the Ravenclaw dorm.

The corridors were emptier than usual, for students had started to organise their revision time, haunting the library in hope to find a miracle solution to memorise everything in just a few days.

Rohini waved at familiar ghosts as she made her way out of the castle, humming the tune of Padma's favourite song. The weather was surprisingly nice, and Rohini stopped for a moment, closing her eyes and smiling with satisfaction as she enjoyed the peace of the moment.

Once the third task was going to be over, she will finally be back to being a normal student once more.

"Can't wait for that to happen." She sighed, getting back into movement as she made her way to the Owlery, where Hedwig greeted her with a happy hoot. "Hello, pretty girl." Rohini said with a smile, giving a gentle kiss on the owl's beak. "Ready to work?"

Hedwig stood proudly, obviously pleased to be going on a new delivery mission. Chuckling, Rohini tied up the chocolate bar and the letter to her brother's owl's leg and walked to the closest opening where she let Hedwig take off into the distance.

Sighing, Rohini leaned up against the window, her eyes gazing upon the green landscape. But instead of enjoying the beautiful view, stressful questions came to her mind: where was Crouch? And who put her name into the Goblet? Was it Voldemort's doing? But why her, and not Harry? What was Pettigrew's role in this dreadful plot? Would have nothing happen if she had killed him that night?

Rohini shook her head and gave her cheeks a few slaps.

"Don't think about it." She scolded herself. "Don't think about it."

And yet, she did, again and again, growing more anxious and turning into a nerve wreck as June came closer. Her body started to show signs of her troubled mind for she grew thinner and dark circles appeared under her eyes that seemed dimmer somehow. She spent all her free time her nose buried into books, trying to get herself ready for whatever was going to happen during the Third Task.

Her nights were terrible too, for she kept waking up from frightful nightmares she could never remember; in consequences, she kept falling asleep during the day, missing key part of her lessons for except Snape and Professor Binns, nobody had the heart to wake her up.

Her friends were obviously worried about her well being too, trying to casually give her some vitamins or glancing warily at her when they thought she wouldn't notice. Padma seemed particularly affected, and Rohini hated herself for that.

To add to her worries, Professor Lupin hadn't answer back to her letter, and Rohini was starting to wonder if she had gone out of boundaries by sending it in the first place, and it made her feel even more terrible.

The tensions between Harry and she were still there, though Rohini knew it was her own fault; her brother had tried to talk to her alone a few times, but Rohini had always been avoiding it. The truth was, she just didn't know how to apologise properly to her brother, who was being quite patient with her. And if she was honest with herself, Rohini missed him terribly.

Yet, every time she was ready to apologise, her mind went to Voldemort and the danger it represented for Harry, and she was suddenly so scared as she imagined a world without her brother that she lost her voice and spiralled into gruesome thoughts once more.

And without being able to stop it, Rohini found herself falling deeper and deeper into this nasty circle that was affecting everybody arounds her.

The day before the Third Task, she couldn't hold it anymore and woke up at dawn, putting on her jogging clothes and leaving the dorm as quietly as possible before making her way to the Lake, unnoticed. The weather was now incredibly warmer and it didn't take her a long time before starting to pant and sweat.

Her muscles were aching for she hadn't properly stretched before, but Rohini didn't care; the more it started to hurt, the more she forced on her legs.

Out of breath, Rohini still managed to wheeze spells she was trying desperately to memorise before the next day. The blood was pounding inside her head, giving her a headache, but still, she ran, and ran, and ran, never slowing down.

"Reducto… Reducto… Reducto… Reducto…" Rohini was now muttering under her breath, her vision getting blurry now. "Come on, Red..uc…to…"

And suddenly, her legs gave up under her and Rohini hissed as her nose violently hit the ground. Cursing, she tried to stand up but her legs were shaking too hard for that. Breathing so loud the whole castle was probably able to hear her, Rohini angrily hit the ground with her fist before picking up a rock and throwing it as far as she could with a loud roar. Sitting here, the heavy silence deafening her, Rohini felt lonelier than ever.

And before she could stop herself, she started to sob uncontrollably.

"Screw this." She moaned angrily, resting her head against her trembling knees that she was now holding against her chest. "This is shitty. I'm so done with this stupid school and this dumb tournament. I just want to go home."

But as she said that, Rohini bitterly realised that she had no home to go back to, and it made her cry more hot, angry tears. Sniffing loudly, she didn't realise she wasn't alone anymore until a soft, warm hand gently touched her shoulder.

Jumping, she panicked and raised her head, looking like a doe caught in a car lights, but relaxed even so slightly when she recognised Padma.

"Hey." Padma said softly, her hand still on Rohini's shoulder. "Do you mind if I join you? The weather is too lovely not to enjoy it for a while."

"Help yourself." Rohini croaked, rubbing her eyes to chase the tears away. "Sorry 'bout that." She said pitifully as Padma took place next to her quietly.

"Don't apologise, silly." Padma said softly before gently passing her thumbs on Rohini's cheeks. "Oh, Rohi… look at you, you're exhausted."

Rohini tried to look away, but Padma hold her still, forcing her to look at her in her worried eyes.

"I… I'm sorry." Rohini apologised again, before bursting in tears again. "Sorry, I-"

"Shhh…" Padma said, leaning closer to kiss Rohini on the forehead. "Shhhh… It's ok, I'm here Rohi, you're not alone."

"I- I know it's- it's stupid-" Rohini stuttered, sniffing loudly as Padma held her closer, "And I- I know it's my f-fault, but I- I just feel so lonely, Padma! Lon- ly and sc-scared, and- and everything just f-feels just- just too much!"

"I know, love, I know." Padma said softly, rubbing a comforting hand over Rohini's back as she kissed her forehead once more. "It's not stupid, Rohi'; I understand. Trust me, I understand more than you think. But you can't let this hurt you, ok? If you need to cry, and shout, and be angry at the world, then be; but don't bottle everything up, ok? You're not alone, love. I know it can feels like you are, but we're all here for you. No matter what, we will always be here, Rohi. Harry, Luna, Ginny, Dana, Ron, Hermione, me… we are here, and we will never let go of you. And you know why?"

Rohini shook her head.

"Because we love you." Padma said earnestly, raising Rohini's face to look at her with warm, black eyes. "We love you so much it hurts. And we will do everything to protect you from the rest of the world, and from yourself. Because that's what friends and family do. That's what people that care for each other do. Do you understand, dear?"

Rohini nodded, shaken to the core by her friend's words.

"Good." Padma smiled at her fondly. "And if you ever forget, then I will happily remind you of this as much as necessary."

"Padma…" Rohini breathed, her chest feeling so warm it was almost painful; what had she done to deserve such a kind soul? "I- I love you." Rohini croaked before taking a deep breath. "I- I really love you."

"So do I, Rohi." Padma said softly. "So do I."

They sat like this for a few minutes, saying nothing as Rohini slowly recovered from her breakdown. Then, Padma stood up and helped her to her feet, never letting go of Rohini's hand.

"Do you want to go back to the castle, now?" Padma asked softly, but Rohini shook her head.

"Not yet; I look awful." She croaked.

"Well, let's have a little walk around the lake until you feel better." Padma said with a comforting smile before lightly pulling on Rohini's hand. "Come."

And Rohini did.

The morning of the Third Task, Rohini found her appetite suddenly back and ate so much for breakfast that she probably gain ten pounds in one go. Luna and Padma were beaming, too happy for her to worry about their exams taking place that day.

"Here, have more Pumpkin juice." Luna said, filling Rohini's cup for the third time.

"Lulu, I'm gonna pee every five minutes if I drink another one!" Rohini complained, though she still drank it. "Gah, I do need to pee now…"

"We still have time before the start of the first exam; we might as well go now and stop to the bathroom before that." Padma said. But just as they were getting ready to leave, Professor Flitwick trotted towards them, calling for Rohini.

"Miss Potter! Wait!" He squealed. "The champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast!"

"But I really need to p- go to the bathroom, Professor." Rohini said warily.

"Oh, well- Hurry up please, and come back as fast as you can!" The Ravenclaw head told her before taking his leave.

"Let's go, then." Padma said and the two of them rushed to the closest bathroom right in time before Rohini got the chance to wet herself.

"I wonder what's waiting for us." Rohini said thoughtfully as she washed her hands. "Do you think the Third Task is going to start earlier than it should?"

"I doubt it; we have too many exams for it to start before the evening." Padma said. "It's probably just a pep talk or something."

"Yeah, probably." Rohini sighed as they walked off the bathroom and made their way back to the main Hall. "I'll see you after Binns' exam. Good luck!"

"Thanks, you too!" Padma said before checking her watch and starting to run towards the classroom.

Rohini entered the Great Hall once more as it started to get empty. She saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Dana waved at her from afar, a bright smile on her face.

Gulping, Rohini closed the distance and took a deep breath before opening the door and entering the chamber.

To her surprise, the champions weren't the only one inside; Cedric was conversing with a balding man and a tall woman on her left. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with a dark-haired woman and a man that bare the same hooked nose as him in rapid Bulgarian. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French with a gorgeous woman and her little sister, Gabrielle, who was holding her hand. She waved at Rohini when she spotted her, and Rohini waved back, grinning.

Then she heard a delighted gasp and as she raised her head, she saw Mrs and Bill Weasley as well as Mr. Patil standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at her.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as Rohini stared in shock, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Rohini!"

"Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Patil!" Rohini shouted, running towards the two of them and holding them tightly with a bemused laugh. "Why? How? I- I can't believe you're all here!"

"It was decided to invite the champions' family for the occasion." Mr. Patil explained. "And since we consider you a part of our family-"

He didn't have the time to finish for Rohini tightened her hug around them, making them gasp.

"Thank you!" Rohini said, feeling emotional about such support. "Hi Bill! Wow, I can't believe you came, too!"

"Heya." said Bill, grinning at Rohini and shaking her hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail, wish I could have seen that!"

Fleur Delacour, Rohini noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Rohini puffed as she could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them.

"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan? How about giving us a tour, Rohi?"

"Oh, sure!" Rohini said excitingly.

Holding both Mrs Weasley and Mr Patil's hand, Rohini happily lead them out of the chamber for a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship.

Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg.

"Ah, yes, I remember him." Mr. Patil said with a grimace. "Awful man; I'm not proud to think he used to be a Hufflepuff, too."

"Ah, well, there are bad seeds in every House." Bill said wisely. "I remember this Gryffindor girl, Regina Spite-"

They returned to the castle for lunch where their friends and family were already sitting there. Mrs. Weasley and Bill hurried to join Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and Mr. Patil followed Rohini to the Ravenclaw table, where his daughter jumped into his arms with a happy squeal.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

"I've come to watch Rohini in the last task." Mr. Patil said brightly. "It feels good, to be back in this Hall! Oh, here comes your sister!"

"Da'!" Parvati gasped, hugging her father tightly with a laugh. "Oh dear, I wasn't expecting that! Here, move over, there's no way I'm not eating with you for lunch!"

"I must say, it's a nice change, to eat an already cooked meal." Mr. Patil said lightly as he started helping himself to some of the plates in front of him. "Oh, you are Luna, correct? How are you doing?"

"Extremely well." Luna said lightly as she handed the bread to Parvati.

"I'm glad to hear that." Mr. Patil said with a nod. "And how were your exams, you two?"

"It was correct." Parvati said with a shrug. "But Padma keeps boring me by gushing about how well she did."

Padma rolled her eyes as her father chuckled, and Rohini couldn't help but feel like she was back to the Patils' place once more.

Lunch went too fast for Rohini's liking and soon she had to bid her farewell to her friends for they had more exams to pass. Over the afternoon, The Weasleys, Mr. Patil and Rohini were joined by Dana who charmed everybody with her merry mood and knowledge about dragons.

They went for a long walk around the castle, before going back to the Great Hall were they played a few games of chess, Rohini only losing against Bill.

Finally, everybody came back for the evening feast, generally satisfied about the afternoon tests.

Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Rohini thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her and Rohini worried something had gone wrong between them again.

There were more courses than usual, but thanks to Mr. Patil's presence by her side, Rohini felt good enough to eat a proper meal. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

Rohini got up and blushed as both the Gryffindor table and the Ravenclaws all along the table started applauding her; the Patils and Luna all wished her good luck, and she headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.

"Nervous?" Cedric asked her as they walked side by side.

"A little bit." Rohini admitted. "You?"

"Same."

They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it.

"Wow!" Rohini gasped as Cedric whistled.

There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy, making her shiver with a gulp.

Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Harry, Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions.

They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest. He gave a little wave to Rohini who smiled back nervously.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.

"Good luck, Rohini." Hagrid whispered, and three of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze.

"Nervous?" Harry asked Rohini who nodded stiffly. "Don't be; I'm sure you will be amazing."

"If you say so." Rohini mumbled.

"Trust him on this, Potter." Said a voice behind them as Professor Moody came towards them. "But now is no time to cry over each other shoulders; Potter," he barked at Harry, "go back to your seat, the task is about to start."

"Good luck." Harry told Rohini, giving her one last smile before running back to their friends' side.

Dancing from one foot to the other, Rohini looked at him vanish into the crowd before Mad-Eye coughed to catch her attention.

"Here, take this, Potter." He said, discreetly handing her a strange pendant where a tiny vial filled with a crimson liquid was hanging.

"Err… thanks?" Rohini said, slightly worried about what it might contain. "What is this?"

"It's a special charm; Dumbledore asked me to give it to ya'; since you're the youngest champion, he insisted that you needed an extra protection." Mad Eye grunted. "I doubt you need any, but it's Dumbledore's orders. Put it on, quick!"

"Ok". Rohini said, slipping the pendant around her neck.

"Good. And don't take it off!" Professor Moody barked before walking away for patrol.

Bagman pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Miss Rohini Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Clenching her wand, Rohini found it hard to breath as the cheers became louder and louder.

"So...on my whistle, Rohini and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"

He gave a short blast on his whistle, and the two Hogwarts champion hurried forward into the maze.

The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, or simply because Rohini was half deaf, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Rohini felt almost as though she was underwater again and froze for a second before shaking her head; now wasn't the time to get worried over such a silly thing.

She pulled out her wand, muttered, "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind her.

After about fifty yards, they reached a fork and looked at each other.

"Good luck." Rohini said, and she took the left one, while Cedric took the right.

Rohini had barely taken one step that she stopped again. How would she know if she had already walked past a specific point? She knew that mazes were sometimes tricky enough to make its prisoner walk past the same path again and again.

Waving her wand, she conjured a huge, red ball of yarn that she slowly unrolled as she started walking again.

She turned right, and hurried on, holding her wand between her teeth as her hands were occupied by the yarn, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.

As the minutes unfolded, Rohini kept looking behind her. The old feeling that she was being watched was upon her and making the hair on her nape raise; maybe Mad Eye was looking in her direction? The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. She reached a second fork.

Blocking the yarn between her tights, she took her wand out of her mouth.

"Point me." She whispered to her wand, holding it flat in her palm.

The wand spun around once and pointed toward her right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and she knew that she needed to go northwest for the centre of the maze. The best she could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible. Conjuring a new ball of yarn, she put her wand back between her teeth and started walking again.

The path ahead was empty too, and when Rohini reached a right turn and took it, she again found her way unblocked. Rohini stopped and scratched her head, feeling puzzled. Surely she should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring her into a false sense of security.

Then she felt a movement right behind her. Dropping the yarn, she held out her wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken and the sleeve of his robe was smoking. Rohini relaxed and sighed.

"You scared the hell out of me. Are you ok?"

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous - I only just got away! Be careful!"

He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between her and the skrewts, Rohini hurried off again. Then, as she turned a corner, she froze as a familiar face met her; standing in front of her was her mother, as beautiful and sad looking as ever.

"What…?" Rohini said, confused as her mother started to scream, surrounded by a green flash; it suddenly became obvious what she was facing, and so Rohini quickly raised her wand and shouted: "Riddikulus!"

There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke.

"Sorry, mum." Rohini sighed before moving on.

Left...right...left again...Twice she found himself facing dead ends. She casted the Four-Point Spell again and found that she was going too far east. She turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of her.

Curious, Rohini approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind of enchantment. She wondered whether she might be able to blast it out of the way or what would happen if she walked through the mist. Was it worth chancing it, or should she double back?

She was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence.

"Fleur?" Rohini yelled.

There was silence. She stared all around her. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. Suddenly on her guards, Rohini took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist.

Instantly, the world turned upside down and made her dizzy; Rohini was now hanging from the ground, with her hair on end, her glasses dangling off her nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky.

Growing nauseous, she clutched them to the end of her nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though her feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below her the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly.

She felt as though if she tried to move one of her feet, she would fall away from the earth completely.

"Ok, calm down Rohi, you've probably read about something similar somewhere… Maybe you just need to walk pass this stupid mist, come on, do it silly girl…"

She shut her eyes and pulled her right foot as hard as she could away from the grassy ceiling, praying she wouldn't fall.

Immediately, the world righted itself. Rohini fell forward onto her knees with a gasp onto the wonderfully solid ground. She felt temporarily limp with shock. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over her shoulder as she ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at her in the moonlight.

"Lil' shit." She cursed at it under her breath.

She paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. She was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks - did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand?

"Fleur?" Rohini called again as she took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease. "Fleur? Are you ok?"

She met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice she took the same wrong turning and still no signs of Fleur. Finally, she found a new route and started to jog along it, her wandlight waving, making her shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls. Then she rounded another corner and found herself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Cedric hadn't lie - it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armour glinted in the light from Rohini's wand, which she pointed at it.

"Stupefy!"

The spell hit the skrewt's armour and rebounded; Rohini ducked just in time with a yelp, but could smell burning hair; it had sung the top of her head.

"Gonna need to go back to the hairdresser." She said moodily as the skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward her.

"Impedimenta!" Rohini yelled. The skrewt froze - Rohini had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, she pushed herself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction - the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.

She took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing herself to stop, heart hammering, she performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest.

"This maze is endless!" She complained loudly for she had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when she heard something in the path running parallel to her own that made her stop dead.

"What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

And then Rohini heard Krum's voice.

"Crucio!"

The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Rohini shouted Cedric's name and sprinted in the opposite direction, hoping to reach the two boys in time.

"Cedric!" She shouted as she took a sharp turn and found herself a few feet away from a terrible scene, Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground and Krum standing over him.

Rohini didn't hesitate.

"Stupefy!" She yelled.

The spell hit Krum in the back and he fell forward, motionless, face down in the grass. Rohini dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face.

"Are you all right?" Rohini said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm.

"Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah...I don't believe it...he crept up behind me...I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me..."

Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Rohini looked down at Krum.

"I- shit, that's weird. Did you hear Fleur scream earlier? Do you think… do you think he did something to her, too?"

"I don't know…" Cedric said slowly before kicking Krum's boot. "Should we leave him here?" He muttered.

"Let's send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him... otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."

"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.

They stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them.

Then Cedric said, "Well...I s'pose we'd better go on..."

"You're right." Rohini agreed, her throat suddenly feeling uncomfortably dry; she had always considered Krum to be a fair play champion, and his change of attitude was leaving a really bad taste in her mouth.

The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Rohini turned left again, and Cedric right.

Rohini moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure she was moving in the right direction, though her mind was still occupied by Krum's actions.

The use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum surely couldn't have wanted the Triwizard Cup that badly, right? And Dana had always sworn that he was a decent man… Rohini scratched the back of her head, nervous.

Every so often she hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made her feel sure she was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as she strode down a long, straight path, she saw movement once again, and her beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary creature, one which she had only seen in picture form, in her Monster Book of Monsters.

It was a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Rohini as she approached and smiled. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking her progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice.

"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."

"Neat. I suppose you're not gonna let me pass, tho?" Rohini asked, still hopeful.

"No," the Sphinx said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess - I let you pass. Answer wrongly - I attack. Remain silent - I will let you walk away from me unscathed."

Rohini groaned; it was a very Ravenclaw-like challenge, and she wondered if it had been made on purpose to challenge her.

"Okay," she said. "Can I hear the riddle?"

The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:

 _"First think of the person who lives in disguise,_

 _Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies._

 _Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,_

 _The middle of middle and end of the end?_

 _And finally give me the sound often heard_

 _During the search for a hard-to-find word._

 _Now string them together, and answer me this,_

 _Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"_

Rohini sighed; yes, typically a Ravenclaw problem.

There were plenty of animals she wouldn't want to kiss, and many other creatures, too; her mind wandered to the Dementors for a moment, but she had a feeling it wasn't the correct answer to the riddle.

"A person in disguise," she muttered, starting to pace as she thought aloud. "A spy, obviously. The last thing to mend…middle of middle… gosh, this is harder than I'd expected, urg... The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word… Errr… wait, Err! I think?"

The sphinx smiled at her and Rohini took it as a yes.

"Spy… the last thing to mend… the letter D maybe? I don't know… middle of middle… hmmm… middle is a six letters word… so the middle is D, too… Spy…d…d…er…"

Rohini gasped and clapped her hands excitingly.

"A spider! I wouldn't want to kiss a spider! That's the answer, right?" Rohini said, feeling quite proud of herself.

The sphinx smiled more broadly, then got up, stretched her front legs, and moved aside for her to pass.

"Thanks!" Rohini said merrily as she hurried past the creature that only yawned at her.

Rohini started to run faster, feeling like she was getting close.

After a few minutes, she had a choice of paths up ahead.

"Point Me!" she whispered again to her wand, and it spun around and pointed her to the right-hand one. She dashed up this one and saw light ahead.

Blinking with a grunt, she squinted to see better and gasped.

The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth, only a hundred yards away from her!

"Damn…" Rohini breathed, amazed at how far she had gone.

Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of her and she recognised Cedric as he sprinted as fast as he could toward the cup.

Rohini felt a rush of adrenalin run through her body and she suddenly jumped after Cedric, quickly catching up as she was the fastest runner of Hogwarts.

The two champions were now on a tie, and Rohini couldn't help but grin as she enjoyed how the wind hit her face, how she felt like she wasn't even touching the ground, laughing with Cedric as they rushed towards the cup.

But suddenly something came colliding with Cedric and made him trip with a yell. Rohini stopped and stumbled on her feet, turning her head to see Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon him.

"Cedric!" Rohini shouted in panic. "Stupefy!"

The spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, she might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Rohini instead, making her turn blemish.

She had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon her, and Rohini screamed as she was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, she tried to kick it; her leg connected with the pincers and next moment she was in excruciating pain.

"You little- Reducto!"

The creature shrieked in pain and dropped her, Rohini falling twelve feet and screaming in pain as her left leg cracked under her. Without pausing to think and slightly blinded by tears of pain, she aimed high at the spider's underbelly and shouted "Stupefy!'' just as Cedric yelled the same thing.

The two spells combined did what one alone had not: The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs.

"Rohini!" she heard Cedric shouting. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"

"No," Rohini called back, panting. "But my leg hurt."

Looking down, she realised it was bleeding freely. She could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on her torn robes. Rohini tried to get up, but her leg was shaking badly and did not want to support her weight. She leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around.

Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him.

"Take it, then," Rohini panted to Cedric. "Go on, take it. You're there, and I'm growing tired of this stupid tournament. Take it, be our champion, and save us both from this horrible maze." She said, waving at him.

But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Rohini. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Rohini saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Rohini again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support herself. Cedric took a deep breath and shook his head.

"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."

"Oh, don't be such a gentleman." Rohini groaned, rolling her eyes. "Shoosh, shoosh! Go and grab it, come on!"

Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, away from the cup, shaking his head.

"No," he said. "You told me about the dragons; I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."

"Yes, well, you told me about the egg; let's call it a tie. Now, go!"

"You should've got more points on the second task," said Cedric mulishly. "You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."

"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Rohini bitterly. "¨Please Cedric, Just take the cup!"

"No." said Cedric stubbornly.

"Damn Hufflepuffs!" Rohini cursed, raising her arms comically to the sky.

Cedric stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Rohini and grabbing her by the waist, making her jolt.

"What do you think you are doing?" She said in a high pitched voice.

"Both of us." Cedric said.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."

"Oh." Rohini said, blinking slowly. "Oh, I- yeah, I… I guess it's not that bad of an idea."

"Ravenclaws aren't the only smart one." Cedric laughed.

He helped Rohini limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles.

"On three, right?" said Cedric. "One - two - three -"

"Now!" Rohini said as she and Cedric both grasped a handle.

Instantly, she felt a strange jerk somewhere behind her navel as her feet had left the ground. Screaming, Rohini tried to let go of the cup but it was as if her hand was glued to it; it was pulling her onward in a howl of wind and swirling colour, Cedric at her side.

A Portkey. The cup had been a Portkey all along.


	25. Chapter 25

Hi guys!

Gosh, would you look at that, this story is slowly but surely coming to an end!

One, maybe two more chapters to go, and Part 4 will be over... I can't believe I've gone that far, and it was all thanks to you guys and your kind support 3

Special thanks to Owery657 for their review on the previous chapter! I hope you will like the outcome of this chapter... I promise Rohini will get the love she deserves soon ;)

Here comes the new chapter!

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It lasted only a few seconds, but Rohini felt like she had been screaming for an hour. Suddenly, her feet slam into the ground and her injured leg gave way, making her fell forward into the wet grass with a thud.

She heard Cedric fall by her side with a painful hiss, the Triwizard Cup rolling away from them. Massing her painful nose, Rohini raise her head.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I have absolutely no idea." Cedric said as he got up and helped her back to her feet.

"Thanks." Rohini said as they looked around.

They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously travelled miles - perhaps hundreds of miles - for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right.

A hill rose above them to their left. Rohini could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside. The air was still, and the deafening silence was making Rohini's heart beats faster; something was off, she could tell.

Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Rohini.

"Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" he asked.

"Nope," said Rohini, shaking her head. "To make us travel to a graveyard… That's creepy as hell, even for wizards. Is this supposed to be part of the task?"

"I dunno," said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"

"I guess, yeah." Rohini said, stepping closer to the Hufflepuff, not even ashamed to slightly hide behind his tall frame. "Gosh, I really hate this place."

They pulled out their wands.

"Lumos." Rohini whispered, her face taking a blue glow as the tip of her wand lightened up. "See anything?" Sha asked Cedric.

"Nope, nothing at all. Wait-"Cedric's body tensed up. "Someone's coming," he said suddenly.

Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. A teacher? A final obstacle?

Rohini couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, she could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face.

Several paces nearer, the gap between them closed and Rohini frowned in confusion as she saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby...or was it merely a bundle of robes?

Still on her guard, Rohini didn't lower her wand and glanced sideways at Cedric. Cedric shot her a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure.

It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second, the two champions and the short figure simply looked at one another.

"Hello?" Rohini said tentatively, hearing an uncomfortable, warning siren in the back of her mind. "Excuse me, do ya' know how the two of us can go back to the castle?"

"Are you one of our teachers?" Cedric asked, taking a step closer. "Professor Moody? Is that you?"

"Kill the spare." Hissed a weak, cold voice.

"Cedric, move!" Rohini shouted in panic as a second voice screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!"

A blast of green light blazed from the stranger's wand, and Rohini watched, helpless, as it collided into Cedric's chest, throwing him backward as he fell at Rohini's feet, his eyes opened in shock as life left his body.

"NO!" Rohini shouted, falling on her knees as she started a frenetic CPR procedure. "Cedric, wake up! Cedric! Cedric please, you can't die! Please, Cedric!" She kept saying, pumping Cedric's unmoving chest, desperately hoping for the boy to breathe again. But Cedric lay still, spread-eagled on the ground, his dead eyes fixed on the sky.

For a second that contained an eternity, Rohini stared into Cedric's face, at his open grey eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. And then, as Rohini got ready to try mouth-to-mouth, she felt herself being pulled to her feet by the short man in the cloak. Roaring, she fought and bite, rage turning her into a real fury, but still the man managed to drag her toward a headstone where the statue of a Grim Reaper suddenly came to life and held her tightly against its cold, marble body with its scythe.

"FUCK YOU!" Rohini spat, kicking the man in the face with her feet. "YOU MURDERER!"

She could hear shallow, fast breathing from the depths of the hood as the man fell to his knee from the sudden blow. His hood fell from his face, and Rohini's rage doubled.

"YOU!" She shouted.

It was Pettigrew.

"YOU TRAITOR!" Rohini screamed, trying to slip out of the Reaper's grip, her feet reaching Pettigrew's nose once more. "I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU, YOU SCUM!"

Pettigrew wept and hurried to walk away from her, his hand with a missing finger trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

Rohini kept screaming profanities at her godfather, burning tears in her eyes as they felt on Cedric's body, laying some twenty feet away next to the glinting Triwizard Cup and Rohini's wand that she had dropped earlier.

A sudden hiss caught her attention and Rohini grew paler as she lowered her eyes; a gigantic snake was slithering through the grass, circling the headstone against which she was being held.

Wormtail's fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It sounded as though he was forcing something heavy across the ground. Then he came back within Rohini's range of vision, and she saw him pushing a stone cauldron to the foot of the grave.

It was full with a liquid of some sort - Rohini could hear it slopping around - and it was larger than any cauldron she had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a full-grown man to sit in.

The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying to free itself. Now Pettigrew was busying himself at the bottom of the cauldron with a wand. Suddenly there were crackling names beneath it. The large snake slithered away into the darkness.

The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending the fire. The movements beneath the robes became more agitated and Rohini heard the high, cold voice again.

"Hurry!"

The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds.

"It is ready, Master." Pettigrew squealed.

"No, it's not you little-"Rohini started, wriggling to escape but the scythe refused to move.

"Now..." said the cold voice.

Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Rohini let out a gasp, her eyes full of disgust and fear.

It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind - but worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Rohini had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face - no child alive ever had a face like that - flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

"No…" Rohini breathed, shaking her head in deny. "No, it can't be, no, no, no!"

The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck as he lifted it. Rohini saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron.

"Don't!" Rohini shouted, in vain; Pettigrew lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface.

Wormtail was now speaking, his voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"

The surface of the grave at Rohini's feet cracked. Horrified, she watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.

And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs.

"Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master."

He stretched his right hand out in front of him - the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward.

Rohini closed her eyes a second too late; she saw the blood running from the fresh wound, heard the scream that pierced the night that went through her spine as though she had been stabbed with the dagger too.

Rohini heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron. A sick sweat was now running over Rohini's forehead, nausea twitching her stomach.

Pettigrew was gasping and moaning with agony as he turned away from the cauldron and made his way to Rohini.

"Fuck off!" Rohini shouted. "You traitor! You- You disgusting piece of shit! Mum and dad should have never trust you, you sickening little-"

Pettigrew squealed as Rohini spat to his face, but he still managed to grab the pendant around her neck without her being able to prevent it.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Rohini shouted as he quickly stepped away. "GIVE IT BACK TO ME, NOW!"

"B-blood of the enemy...forcibly taken...he will...resurrect your foe."

He opened the vial and poured the crimson liquid inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Pettigrew, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.

The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened at first, and Rohini prayed for the ritual to have gone wrong…

And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Rohini, so that she couldn't see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapour hanging in the air.

And then, through the mist in front of her, she saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.

"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one-handed over his master's head.

The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Rohini with a sickening grin… and Rohini stared back into the face that had haunted her deepest fears for the past four years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake with slits for nostrils…

Lord Voldemort had risen again; Darkness was back upon the world, Rohini unable to prevent it from happening.

Voldemort looked away from Rohini and began examining his own body. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cats, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness.

He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Rohini again, hissing.

Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Rohini was still held. The pitiful man fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying. Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Rohini who hold his gaze, her jaw tensed and her eyes daring.

Voldemort laughed a high, cold, mirthless laugh.

Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them.

"My Lord..." he choked, "my Lord...you promised...you did promise..."

Voldemort's smile disappeared as he didn't even looked down at his servant.

"Hold out your arm." said Voldemort lazily.

"Oh Master...thank you, Master..."

He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again.

"The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please...please..."

Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Rohini saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo - a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth - the image that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping.

"It is back," he said softly, "they will all have noticed it...and now, we shall see...now we shall know..."

He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm, who let out a fresh howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from the mark, and Rohini saw that it had turned jet black.

A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard.

"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

He began to pace up and down before Rohini and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked at Rohini again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face.

"You stand, Rohini Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool...very like your dear mother."

"Fuck you." Rohini spat.

"But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you and your brother as children... and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death!"

"You make me sick." Rohini said.

Voldemort laughed again.

"Bolder than your brother, Potter. Not the twin I wanted, but still satisfying, yes…"

Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass.

"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was...He didn't like magic, my father..."

"I bet he wouldn't have like you very much either." Rohini said but Voldemort ignored her.

"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage...but I vowed to find him...I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name...Tom Riddle..."

Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.

"Listen to me, reliving family history..." he said quietly, "why, I am growing quite sentimental...But look, Rohini! My true family returns..."

The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward, slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them.

Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes.

"Master...Master..." he murmured.

The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Rohini, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail.

Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind, rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered.

"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly. "Thirteen years...thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"

He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening.

"I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench or guilt upon the air."

A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare to step back from him.

"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact - such prompt appearances! And I ask myself...why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"

No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm.

Rohini's thoughts went to her friends and brother, realising she would probably never see them again. Her whole body turned cold as all hope left her.

"-And I answer myself," whispered Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment!"

Another shiver ran through the circle.

"-And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living?"

"You were never mighty!" Rohini shouted, but Voldemort didn't even glance at her.

"-And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort... perhaps they now pay allegiance to another...perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"

At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them.

"It is a disappointment to me...I confess myself disappointed..."

One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet.

"Master!" he shrieked, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!"

Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand.

"Crucio!"

The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked and Rohini looked away, feeling bile in her throat.

Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping.

"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years...I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?"

He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob.

"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Master," moaned Wormtail, "please. Master...please..."

"You even went as far as getting the wrong twin, getting your information mixed up for my servant to put the wrong name into the cup… But you helped return me to my body," said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me...and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers..."

Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air.

A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake. Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtail's bleeding wrist.

Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder.

"My Lord," he whispered. "Master...it is beautiful...thank you...thank you..."

He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," said Voldemort.

"No, my Lord...never, my Lord..."

Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right.

"Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. "I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius...Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay...but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"

"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -"

"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius...You have disappointed me...I expect more faithful service in the future."

"Of course, my Lord, of course...You are merciful, thank you..."

"Acting all pitiful, Lucius?" Rohini spat angrily at the hooded man who seemed to tense up. "Feeling less confident now that you have no House Elf to take care of your shit?"

Lucius's grip tightened around his wand, but Voldemort stopped him before turning to Rohini, a thin smile on his face.

"Keep your fighting spirit for the real fight, Potter." He said before moving on, staring at the space - large enough for two people - that separated Malfoy and the next man.

"The Lestranges should stand here," said Voldemort quietly. "But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me... When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honoured beyond their dreams. The Dementors will join us...they are our natural allies...we will recall the banished giants... I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear..."

He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them.

"Macnair...destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide..."

"Thank you, Master...thank you." murmured Macnair.

"And here" - Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures - "we have Crabbe...you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?"

They bowed clumsily, muttering dully.

"Yes, Master..."

"We will, Master..."

"The same goes for you, Nott," said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyles shadow.

"My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful -"

"That will do," said Voldemort.

He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there.

"And here we have six missing Death Eaters...three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return...he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever...he will be killed, of course...and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already re-entered my service."

The Death Eaters stirred, and Rohini saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks.

"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight...Yes," said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Rohini's direction. "Rohini Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party, standing where her brother should have stand. One might go so far as to call her my guest of honour, still."

There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice spoke from under the mask.

"Master, we crave to know...we beg you to tell us...how you have achieved this...this miracle...how you managed to return to us..."

"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins - and ends - with the young Potter twins."

He walked lazily over to stand next to Rohini, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle.

"You know, of course, that they have called this girl's brother my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Rohini who clenched her fists, refusing to look down. "You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill her and her brother. Their mother died in the attempt to save them - and unwittingly provided them with a protection I admit I had not foreseen...I could not touch them at all, the boy especially since he was the one I tried to kill first."

Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Rohini's cheek.

"His mother left upon them the traces other sacrifice...This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it...but no matter. I can touch them both now."

Rohini felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch her, making her mouth twist in disgust.

Voldemort laughed softly, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters.

"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah...pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost...but still, I was alive."

Rohini remembered the thing that had lived on Professor Quarrel's head for years, hidden by a turban.

"-What I was, even I do not know...I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked...for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself...for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand..."

Nobody talked nor moved.

"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist...I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited...Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me...one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body..., but I waited in vain..."

The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing.

"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals - snakes, of course, being my preference - but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic...and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long... Then...four years ago...the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard - young, foolish, and gullible - wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of...for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school...he was easy to bend to my will...he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted...thwarted, once again, by Harry Potter and his sister..."

Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Rohini.

"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued. "I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers...Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour...I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess...and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me..."

One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice.

"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last...a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master. Did you know that he was Rohini Potter's godfather?"

"He is nothing to me." Rohini spat and Voldemort chuckled.

"-Wormtail sought me in the country where it had long been rumoured I was hiding...helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them..."

"But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food...and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic."

So, that was what had happened to Bertha, then.

"Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail - displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him - convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her...he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams...for - with a little persuasion - she became a veritable mine of information."

Rohini couldn't help but remember the young girl she had seen through Dumbledore's Pensieve. Her last moment must have been terrible…

"She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many things...but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her."

Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.

"Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth...a spell or two of my own invention...a little help from my dear Nagini," Voldemort's red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake, "a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided...I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel. There was no hope of stealing the Sorcerer's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower...I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength. I knew that to achieve this - it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant..."

Rohini winced at the ironic wording.

"My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe...Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me...as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago...for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too..."

Rohini closed her eyes and shook her head; if he had needed Harry's blood, then the crimson liquid in the vial-

"-But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there...Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup...I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him?"

"Why...by using Bertha Jorkins's information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire. But what I hadn't plan was that the wrong name will be put into the Cup, due to Wormtail's vagueness. Still, I used my Death Eater to ensure that the girl won the tournament - that she touched the Triwizard Cup first - the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring her here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. Her, carrying with her the blood of her brother. And here she is...the sister of the boy you all believed had been my downfall..."

Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Rohini. He raised his wand.

"Crucio!"

It was pain beyond anything Rohini had ever experienced; her very bones were on fire; her eyes were rolling madly in her head; the blood was pounding inside her skull, her heart was beating painfully against her ribcage, as if trying to jump away from the execrating pain.

And then it was gone. She was hanging limply against the Grim Reaper binding her to the headstone of Voldemort's father, looking up into those bright red eyes through a kind of mist. The night was ringing with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter.

So that was how she was going to die, then? Tortured by the Darkest wizard of all times, until her soul or her body broke first?

"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that those children could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry and Rohini Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing her first and then her brother, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help her, and no mother to die for her. I will give her her chance. She will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.

"You weren't so brave when you tried to kill two babies." Rohini grunted between her clenched teeth. "You weren't so brave when you killed my mother and my father, without letting them the chance to fight back!"

"Silence!" Voldemort hissed, waving his wand.

Rohini suddenly fell hard from the statue's grip, hissing at the pain running through her injured leg.

"We will fight, Potter. Wormtail, give her her wand."

Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Rohini's wand, which he thrust roughly into her hand without looking at her. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters.

"You have been taught how to duel, right, Rohini Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness. "We bow to each other, Rohini,." said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Rohini. "Come, the niceties must be observed...Dumbledore would like you to show manners...Bow to death, Rohini..."

"Don't call me by my name." Rohini hissed.

The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. She did not bow.

"I said, bow," Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Rohini felt her spine curve even so slightly, as though a huge, invisible hand were bending her, but still she resisted, even though her bones felt ready to break.

The Death Eaters didn't laugh, this time.

"I. Will. Not. Bow." Rohini said in a low, angry breath, her eyes glaring at Voldemort whose smile seemed a bit strained now.

"A fighter to the very end." said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon Rohini lifted too. "And now you face me, like a man –or should I say a woman?- straight-backed and proud, the way your father died..."

Rohini clenched her fists so hard that she felt her short nails biting through the flesh.

"And now - we duel."

Voldemort raised his wand, and before Rohini could do anything to defend herself, before she could even move, she had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that she no longer knew where she was.

White-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, her head was surely going to burst with pain, she was screaming more loudly than she'd ever screamed in his life -

And then it stopped. Rohini rolled over and scrambled to her feet, shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; she staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed her away, back toward Voldemort.

"A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause...That hurt, didn't it, Rohini? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"

"Fuck you." Rohini spat. She was going to die like Cedric… she was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. Still, if this is to end in death, then she will not let it be without a fight.

"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly. "Answer me! Imperio!"

"Protego!" She shouted, and Voldemort's curse bounced against the invisible shield.

"You won't answer, then?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. "You won't say no? Girl, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die...Perhaps another little dose of pain?"

Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Rohini flung herself sideways onto the ground and rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort's father, hearing it crack as the curse missed her.

"Having trouble with targeting me?" She said cockily. "No wonder you like to target babies more!"

"We are not playing hide-and-seek!" hissed Voldemort, slowly but surely losing his calm. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Rohini? Finish it, just like I finished it with your parents? Come out, Rohini...come out and play, then...it will be quick...it might even be painless...I would not know...I have never died... Come, little girl…"

"I am NOT a little girl!" Rohini shouted angrily before rising on her feet and aiming her wand at the cauldron. "Wingardium leviosa!"

The cauldron raise into the air and came flying against Voldemort and its followers, creating chaos as they stepped away or get crushed under the heavy thing, moaning in pain.

Using the distraction, Rohini sprinted towards Cedric and the Triwizard Cup, laying still a few feet away from her. She felt the hair on her arms rise as a flash of green light barely missed her, followed by a red one that made a gravestone explode nearby.

"Stun her! Stun the girl!" Voldemort screamed behind her.

Rohini ran as she had never run in her life zigzagging behind headstones just like she did during the First Task, panting and sweating, unfamiliar voices cheering for her in the back of her head, telling her to keep going, to do whatever she needed to survive, to go back to safety-

Ten feet from Cedric, Rohini dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatter as the spells hit it. Gripping her wand more tightly, she dashed out from behind the angel -

"Impedimenta!" she bellowed, pointing her wand wildly over her shoulder at the Death Eaters running at her.

From a muffled yell, she thought she had stopped at least one of them, but there was no time to stop and look; she jumped over the cup and dived as she heard more wand blasts behind her; more jets of light flew over her head as she fell, stretching out her hand to grab Cedric's arm...

"Stand aside! I will kill her! She is mine!" shrieked Voldemort. Rohini's hand had closed on Cedric's wrist; one tombstone stood between her and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of reach -

Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness. Rohini saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand.

And without blinking, Rohini smiled back.

He wasn't going to get her, not this time.

"Accio!" She yelled, pointing her wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air and soared toward her and Rohini caught it by the handle in a swift move.

She heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that she felt the jerk behind her navel that meant the Portkey had worked - it was speeding her away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with her...

They were going back. Back to their friends, back to their family. Back to safety.


	26. Chapter 26

Rohini didn't felt her body slam flat into the ground; her face pressed into grass; her still bleeding leg painfully throbbing.

Her only reaction was to open her eyes and started into Cedric's lifeless ones. Cedric, who died a quick, meaningless death. Cedric, that she hadn't been able to protect. Cedric, proof that Voldemort was back.

The tears started to stream down her hollow cheeks as her trembling hand clenched Cedric's cold one harder; if he had been alive still, the Hufflepuff would have probably wince.

 _But he was dead, now_.

Rohini cried harder. There were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams, she saw shadows kneeling around them, she heard the terrible cry of Cedric's mother has she realised her son was no more.

 _I'm sorry_ , Rohini wanted to say, but the words refused to leave her throat. _So sorry-_

"Rohini! Rohini!" A familiar voice called, but Rohini couldn't move, her hand stubbornly holding into Cedric, even as people around tried to pull him away from her.

"It wasn't me." Rohini wept, ignoring how disgusting she must look, all dirty and sweaty, her puffy eyes red, her nose running. "It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me, it-"

"Rohini!"

A pair of hands seized her roughly and turned her over, forcing her to let go of Cedric.

"Pro-professor." Rohini stuttered, recognising Albus Dumbledore crouched over her. "Professor! I- He- he is back!" Rohini said, looking like a mad woman as she gripped Dumbledore's arm too tightly, her eyes wide opened. "Voldemort, he- they killed Cedric, and he tried to- to kill me, and he was- it's my fault, if I had killed Petti-"

"What's going on? What's happened?"

The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over Rohini; it looked white, appalled.

"My God - Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"

The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them...and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night - "He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! Dead!"

Rohini's eyes were burning as the new wave of hot, desperate tears hit her.

Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, raised Rohini from the ground and set her on her feet, but Rohini tripped over again, her injured leg unable to support her weight.

"Dumbledore, Amos and his wife- need to talk to him- bring the students back to the castle-"

The words were losing their meaning for Rohini, switching and turning into vague sounds; there were screams and sobbing, she thought she hear her name as someone took her by the arm and leaded her away from the macabre scene…

"You need to lie down...Come on now..."

"Pr'ssor…" Rohini mumbled, half carried by Professor Moody towards the castle. "Pro'ssor… Cedric…"

"Ya can't help him anymore, my girl." The man said as he lifted her upon the stone steps, his wooden leg clunking loudly. "Come, ya' need something strong, yes, a strong drink…"

"I'm underage." Rohini blurred before laughing nervously; who cared about being underage when the greatest threat to the Wizardly world was back? When a kind soul had faced such a fate, his parents crying over his dead body?

"What happened, in there?"

"Cup was a Portkey," said Rohini as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard...and Voldemort was there...Lord Voldemort..."

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs...

"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?"

Rohini sniffed loudly.

"Killed Cedric...they killed Cedric... 't was my fault, if I had…if I had killed Wormtail that night… "

"And then?"

"Where's Harry? He need- he needs to be protected, he can-t"

"Potter, the facts!" Hissed Mad Eye.

"A ritual. Got his body back and-"

"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"

Rohini moaned as the man pushed her into a room.

"In here, Potter...in here, and sit down...You'll be all right now...drink this..."

Rohini heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into her hands.

"Professor, Harry-"

"Drink it first...you'll feel better...don't want to worry your brother too much, do ya? Come on, now. I need to know exactly what happened..."

Moody helped tip the stuff down Rohini's throat; she coughed, a peppery taste burning her throat.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Just a little medicine of mine; I doubt you'll find this in the Hospital Wing."

Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself .He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Rohini's face as he handed her a tissue. Rohini blew her nose loudly, and stared at her shaking hands, covered in blood and dirt.

"Voldemort's back, Potter? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"

"He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail," said Rohini. "but he needed something else, something… something from Harry. Blood. Professor- who gave you the vial?" Rohini asked, frowning. "It wasn't- it wasn't Professor Dumbledore, was it?"

Mad Eye stiffened.

"What do you mean?" He barked.

"Voldemort… he said there was a spy. A spy at Hogwarts," Rohini remembered, and her hand slowly made her way to her pocket. "there's a Death Eater here - they put my name in the Goblet of Fire by mistake-it should have been Harry- they made sure I got through to the end -"

"Did the Dark Lord say that? Was he proud of him? Is it a loyal servant?" Moody asked frenetically, the grip he had on Rohini's shoulder getting tighter.

"Professor, your hand!" Rohini grimaced, but Moody didn't let go of her.

"I know who the Death Eater is." he said quietly.

"Wh- then why haven't you told the Minister, or Professor Dumbledore?" Rohini asked with a frown. Then, anger started to rise inside her chest as she violently pushed away Mad Eye and stood up. "You could- if you knew, and had told them, Cedric would be alive right now!"

"That's right, Potter." Moody said with an odd laugh. "He would be alive, and the Dark Lord wouldn't have returned. But now… now the Dark Lord is back, and his faithful supporters returned to him."

"How do you kno-" Rohini froze.

Oh. Of course.

"You." She said slowly, taking a step backward. "You were the one who put my name is the goblet. You were- you are the spy Voldemort was talking about. Not Karkaroff. You."

"As smart as ever, Potter." Mad Eye snarled as he pointed his wand at Rohini. "Sit."

"No." Rohini said, refusing to move.

"Sit!" Mad Eye said louder.

"I won't." Rohini said defiantly, before getting her own wand out and pointing it at Mad Eye.

"Did you show such boldness against the Dark Lord, Potter?" He asked, his magical eye quickly glancing at the door before looking back at her. "Were you as impolite with him that you are with the rest of the world?"

"He doesn't deserve any respect." Rohini spat, her eyes glowing darkly. "And neither do you."

"Crucio!"

Rohini fell to her knees, biting her lips to the blood as her body twisted and broke into unnatural position.

"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did, Potter!"

One of Rohini's nails broke as she scratched the marble floor with them, blinded by the pain.

"It hasn't been easy, Potter, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. Still, might have been easier than if I've gotten the right twin; Harry Potter can be denser than you, when it comes to figuring out some clues."

Blinded by the pain, Rohini crawled toward Mad Eye and spat at his feet.

"As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start - then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did."

The spell was suddenly raised and Rohini laid on the floor, panting, her body unable to move; stars were shining upon her eyes, as if she was back to the maze.

"Your brother told me at the Yule Ball a house-elf called Dobby had given you both a Christmas present. I called the elf to the staffroom to collect some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use Gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to Snape's office and then hurried to find you... though I heard later that you had find the solution elsewhere, all by yourself. A smart girl, really. Still, you were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility, and marked you high for it. I breathed again."

"Too bad, I'd rather have you choke on your failure." Rohini hissed, too low for Mad Eye to understand.

"You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear."

"You sick, pathetic-" Rohini's sentence finished in a scream as a new wave of pain ran through her body. Mad Eye wasn't smiling anymore.

"Enough." He hissed, his wand pointed at Rohini's heart. "Enough! Do you think insolence will save you this time, Potter?"

Above his shoulder, Rohini saw odd foggy shapes reflected in a glass above the door, slowly dividing themselves into four silhouettes. But Moody wasn't watching them. His magical eye was upon Rohini.

"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him; I have gotten ridden off the most important thing the Boy Who Lived cherished. I gave you to him, bearing your brother's blood with you - the thing he needed above all to regenerate - and then I killed you for him, thus breaking the young Harry Potter's heart, making him weaker and easier to kill. I will be honoured beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter...closer than a son..."

"Voldemort will never kill Harry." Rohini grunted, blinking fast to chase the sweat from her eyelids. "And you will never kill me!"

Moody burst in laugh, sounding like a deep bark.

"Fool! The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, and he looked completely insane now, towering over her, leering down at Rohini, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers...very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Rohini, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure...the very great pleasure...of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"

"You're fucking mad!" Rohini shouted, trying to crawl away from him, toward the wand she had dropped.

"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Rohini Potter, you did not conquer him - and now –"

"Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart and Rohini instinctively protected her head with her arms.

Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor. Looking up, Rohini saw Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, Harry behind them and Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched.

"Harry!" Rohini shouted as her brother ran towards her and brought her into a strong hug. "Are you crying?"

"Shut up." Harry mumbled, though Rohini could feel the tears wetting her sweater. Tightening her embrace around her brother, Rohini looked up at her three saviours.

The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Rohini could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.

He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, glaring into the room. Professor McGonagall went straight to the twins.

"Come along, Potters," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along...hospital wing..."

"No," said Dumbledore sharply.

"Dumbledore, she ought to - look at them! - They've been through enough tonight -"

"Harry and Rohini will stay, Minerva, because she needs to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. Rohini needs to know who has put her through the ordeal she has suffered tonight, and why."

"I don't think I want to, Professor." Rohini mumbled as Professor McGonagall gave her an apologetic look. "Mad Eye-"

"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed."

Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape.

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."

"Pad…?" Rohini asked, but Harry shushed her.

If either Snape or McGonagall found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. Both turned at once and left the office.

Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again.

The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time. Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Rohini's eyes opened wild.

It was the inside of a weird kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.

The twins stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the floor of the office.

Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him.

"Stunned - controlled by the Imperius Curse - very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's cloak - he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."

Harry did as he was told, reluctantly letting go of Rohini who gave him a weak smile; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor.

Rohini recognised it instantly.

"Polyjuice Potion," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair..." Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done...on the hour...every hour...We shall see."

Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Harry helped Rohini back to her feet and sat her on the most comfortable looking seat around.

Minutes passed until the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink.

The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place and Rohini couldn't help but groan in disgust.

The next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction at Harry's feet, which carefully picked it up and gave it to Dumbledore.

The man lying before them was pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair.

"Mr Crouch's son…" Rohini breathed; she had seen him before when she and Harry had gone through Dumbledore's Pensieve. "But… I thought he was dead?"

There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. Professor McGonagall was right behind them.

"Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"

"Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, stopping dead and staring down at the man on the floor. A large dog was following after her and jumped on Rohini's laps, licking her face with worried whines.

"Hey, buddy." Rohini said with a weak, tired smile, petting the fluffy head. "Long time no see."

Filthy, dishevelled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek.

"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"

She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest.

"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"

"He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"

Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: Rohini recognised it as some Veritaserum.

Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Ennervate."

Crouch's son opened his eyes. Rohini clenched Harry's hand. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level.

"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

The man's eyelids flickered.

"Yes," he muttered.

"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"

Padfoot growled lowly, and Rohini rubbed him behind the ears.

Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice.

"My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

Winky was shaking her head, trembling.

"Say no more. Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"

But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice.

"The Dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."

The man's eyelids flickered. Rohini wondered if he felt some gratitude towards the poor heartbroken woman.

"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master...of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Moody said. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior."

"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble..."

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"

"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."

"Why is she coming to nose into my masters private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup." said Dumbledore.

"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.

"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know.

"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."

"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers. Rohini felt pity for the miserable House Elf.

"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"

"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand."

"I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky.

"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned.

"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."

Winky let out a wail of despair. Rohini felt her sympathy grow for this faithful little creature.

"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then...and then..." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me. He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant - perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."

The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak.

"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."

Rohini saw Professor McGonagall shook her head in a sad disbelief.

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.

"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. Ensure Potter reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first -"

"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm.

"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boom-slang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."

"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore.

Padfoot growled louder.

"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father."

"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban.

"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. I was lucky, that night; I had a feeling my father was out there, and was patrolling when I heard Potter and her little friends. Once out of my sights I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father."

Rohini shivered. So Crouch was dead, then; another death…

"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. Then I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone...I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."

There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight..."

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honoured by him beyond the dreams of wizards."

The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.

Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry and his sister upstairs?"

"Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.

"Severus" - Dumbledore turned to Snape - "please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."

Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.

"Harry, Rohini?" Dumbledore said gently. "Come."

Harry got up and helped Rohini to stand up. One hand holding her brother, and the other leaning against Padfoot, Rohini followed Professor Dumbledore into the dark corridor.

"I want you to come up to my office first, you two." he said quietly as they headed up the passageway.

Harry nodded but Rohini was too tired for that. A kind of numbness and a sense of complete unreality were upon her. It felt too unreal yet too terrible to be a dream. Memories kept flashing in front of her eyes: Wormtail, slumped on the ground, cradling his stump of an arm. Voldemort, rising from the steaming cauldron. Cedric...dead...Cedric…

"Professor," Harry mumbled, "what about Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"

Rohini slightly raised her head.

"They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. "She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."

They had reached the stone gargoyle. As soon as the oak door closed behind their back, Sirius turned into his human form again and he brought Rohini into a tight embrace, making her hiss in pain.

"Pad', I can't breathe!"

"Sorry, I… I knew it - I knew something like this was going to happen- Are you alright? Here, sit."

He helped her into a chair and Rohini felt the strong need to close her eyes and fall asleep and just forget about everything. Still, she knew her attention was needed for a few minutes more and so she forced her sullen eyes to stay open.

There was a soft rush of wings. Fawkes the phoenix had left his perch, flown across the office, and landed on her knee.

"Hello, handsome." Rohini said quietly, stroking the phoenix's beautiful scarlet-and-gold plumage. Fawkes blinked peacefully up at her.

"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Rohini." said Dumbledore.

"We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand on Rohini's shoulder. "Let her have a sleep. Let her and Harry rest."

Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius's words.

"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."

"What if I don't want to feel courageous?" Rohini asked quietly.

"Then I will respect your choice." Dumbledore said.

Harry passed an arm around her neck, and Rohini sighed.

"Fine."

The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note.

She took a deep breath and began to tell them. As she spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before her eyes; she saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revived Voldemort; she saw the Death Eaters apparating between the graves around them; she saw Cedric's body, lying on the ground beside the cup. And regrets, so many regrets about what she should have done or say…

When Rohini told of Wormtail taking Harry's blood, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that the twins started.

"How?" He asked, looking at Harry.

"I remember- a few days ago, Professor Mood- Barty Crouch, he asked to take some of our blood, said it was to show us something later…"

"Voldemort- he said Harry's blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Rohini told Dumbledore with difficulties. "He said the protection our - our mother left in him- he'd have it too. He could touch me, of course; I lost the bit of him I had against the Basilisk. But I think… I think he's gonna be able to touch Harry too, now."

"Very well," Dumbledore said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Rohini, continue, please."

Shouldn't he be more worried about that? Exhausted, Rohini still went on; she spat the names of the Death Eaters present at the graveyard, she told them how she refused to submit to Voldemort, how she had ran away from a certain death. As she did, she realised the phoenix had fluttered to the floor.

It was resting its beautiful head against her injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. Her leg was repaired.

"Thank you." Rohini said with a weak smile.

"I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace...Sirius, would you like to stay with her? You too, Harry?"

They both nodded and stood up before helping Rohini to do the same. Sirius transformed back into the great black dog and walked with the twins and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.

When Dumbledore pushed open the door, they saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Mr. Patil Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Padma and Dana grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey; it wasn't that often that the Hospital wing was so crowded. All of them whipped around as Harry, Dumbledore, Rohini and the black dog entered and Padma rushed past the others to bring Rohini into the tightest, most desperate embrace they had ever shared.

"Oh, Rohi!" She said and Rohini found herself refusing to let her go.

"I'm fine." Rohini lied. "I'm fine Padma, I'm fine."

The rest of her friends started to hurry toward her, but Dumbledore moved between them.

"Please listen to me for a moment. Rohini has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. What she needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If she would like you all to stay with her," he added, looking around at everyone, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning her or her brother until she is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. Mr. Patil stepped closer and slightly pushed away his daughter to take a closer look at Rohini.

"Do you want us to stay with you?" He asked softly.

Madam Pomfrey pinched her lips behind his back, her eyes staring annoyingly at Padfoot.

"Only if you want to." Rohini said. Mr. Patil nodded before taking Mrs. Weasley and Bill apart from the group to have a serious discussion.

"Hey." Dana said, in a voice quieter than usual. "Is there some energy left for a group hug?"

"Always." Rohini said tiredly, and before she knew it, everybody was awkwardly hugging her, bringing some warmth to her cold body.

"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what - ?"

"This dog will be remaining with Harry and Rohini for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Everyone- I will wait while you get into bed."

"No need to." Rohini said quickly as Luna and Ginny pushed her gently towards the closest bed.

Madam Pomfrey gave everybody some pyjamas and ordered them to be quiet for the night.

"I know this is silly, but I don't want to be alone." Rohini said quietly, looking at her friends. "Isn't there a way… isn't there a way we could sleep all together?"

"I'm a sleepover master." Dana assured her, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to turn her back before waving her wand; the bed instantly tucked closer to each other, forming one giant mattress. "Here!"

"Impressive." Ginny said and Dana laughed before jumping next to Rohini, quickly joined by Luna, Padma and Padfoot whose fur tickled their naked feet, making them chuckle.

Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet and seemed ready to throw everybody out of the room when she saw the mess they had created.

"You'll need to drink all of this." she said between her pinched lips to Rohini. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."

Rohini nodded and took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. She felt herself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around her became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at her in a friendly way; her body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress, Padma's arms around her waist, Dana's head resting on her chest, Ginny's legs entwined with hers.

And finally, finally Rohini's eyes closed and she fell into a welcomed, restful sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

**A huge thank you to everybody for their kind support; without you, this fic would have never carry out so far. I will never thank you guys enough for that.**

 **Here ends this fourth part of Rohini's adventure...**

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When Rohini woke up the next day, it had felt like coming out of the shower after a long run. Her whole body felt sore, but strangely relaxed too. She grunted and shifted, only to realise she couldn't move; Padma was desperately clenching her in her sleep, like a child refusing to let go of their teddy bear.

Blinking, Rohini wondered how she ended up in such a position when someone snored loudly in their sleep. Twisting her neck, she saw Ron drooling on his sister's shoulder, obviously deep asleep. Strange; since when were Ginny and Ron sharing the Ravenclaw dorm with them?

And then, Rohini remembered; she wasn't in the Ravenclaw tower at all. Her muscles were sore, not because she had run around the lake with Ginny and Dana, but because she had faced Voldemort after the Third Task went wrong. And if she felt so empty suddenly, it wasn't because she was hungry, but because she knew Diggory was dead, so was Crouch, and now the Darkest Wizard of all time was back to his full power, with still many followers by his side.

"Hey." Someone said. "You're awake."

"So are you." Rohini said, trying to sit up to look at her brother. "How did you sleep?"

"Poorly." Harry admitted, his hand caressing Sirius' fur, the dog seemingly still asleep on his laps. "But Padfoot kept me warm. How about you?"

"The sleeping was great I suppose. The memories coming back, though? Not so good."

"Is it breakfast time yet?" Dana grumbled on Rohini's left before yawning loudly. "Man, I'm starving."

"Mum, let me sleep a bit more…" Ron mumbled, pulling a blanket above his head.

Just as this moment, Mrs. Weasley appeared her hair all over the place as she look at them both with a tired expression.

"Rohini, Harry! Are you alright dearies? You need to eat something, yes, food will do you some good! Bill, can you let Dumbledore knows they are awake?"

"On my way!" Bill said, giving the twins a tired smile. "How are you feeling?"

"'m fine." Harry said, and Rohini just gave him a vague sound.

"I'll be right back, mum." Bill said, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

Everybody was slowly starting to wake up, all cramped and grumpy.

"Urg, Ron! You drooled all over me!" Ginny complained with a disgusted expression. "You're the worst!"

"What did I do?!" Ron said, still not entirely awake.

"I saw a sink somewhere around there." Hermione said before stretching. Her bed hair was the most impressive, though Harry and Luna weren't far behind.

"Here, a House Elf brought your clothes while you were still asleep." Mrs. Weasley said, handing piles of clean change to everybody. "Ron, clean up your face, you have dry drool just right there! Oh, I think I gave you the wrong clothes Ginny dear- yes, those belong to Luna-"

Rohini watched the scene from afar, clenching her clothes against her without moving. It felt surreal, somehow; here they were, acting like a careless family, as if everything was normal. As if none of what had happened the previous night had happen.

"Rohi?" Padma called, clapping her fingers under Rohini's nose, making her blink in surprise. "Are you… are you ok?"

'No.' Rohini thought, trying to figure out what to say to instead. But Padma knew her well, and shook her head.

"I understand. Dumbledore should arrive soon; let's get changed and clean up a bit before he does."

"Ok." Rohini croaked, letting her best friend guide her.

Time seemed frozen for now, but Rohini had no doubt it was just the calm before the storm.

The storm started with meeting the Diggory, who were waiting for Rohini outside of the Hospital Wing.

Rohini had tried to apologise, saying she wished she could have protect Cedric, but to her surprise, his parents did not blame her for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked her for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of this mournful meeting but Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears, though her eyes were red and shiny as she looked kindly at Rohini.

"He suffered very little then. And after all, Amos...he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

"He was." Rohini promised, her throat tight. "I- he laughed. Right before we caught the cup… we laughed together."

Amos Diggory looked away with a strangled chuckle.

"That's my boy… that's my little boy…"

"You look after yourself, now, will you? You and your brother, look after each other." Mrs. Diggory told Rohini with a sad but motherly smile.

"I will." Rohini agreed, and she felt her eyes burn a little as the poor woman gave her a quick embrace before leaving.

Taking a deep breath, Rohini opened the door to the Infirmary room. "They're gone." She simply said, and Dumbledore nodded before looking at the rest of the students still standing here.

"Well, I suppose breakfast is in order now." He simply said, leading the way.

Rohini walked in silence, Padma holding her left hand and Luna holding her right one, never letting go till they reached the Ravenclaw table. Rohini was unable to make eye contact with anyone, her hands shaking as she heard students whisper and weep all around her. Padma took her hand once more and Luna started gently rubbing her back.

The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. Rohini couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk, and Rohini was sure she would have reacted the same way.

Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. Rohini thought with certain coldness that she didn't care about what would happen of him. Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together.

Dumbledore stood up, and Rohini noticed Professor Sprout crying in Professor Flitwick's arms; she had known Cedric well, after all.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."

He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Rohini tensed up. Here came the hard truth.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now...or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table, Rohini saw Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Clenching her fists, Rohini forced herself to look back at Dumbledore.

"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Rohini Potter."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Rohini's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore, which she was grateful for; she had never liken being stared at, and especially not in those condition. Still, she wasn't sure why her name was mentioned now.

"Rohini Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "She risked her own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. She showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honour her."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Rohini, who stared, eyes wild open, as he raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured her name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to her. But through a gap in the standing figures, Rohini saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. She didn't care; didn't feel like she deserved this anyway.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemort's return - such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Rohini saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh, and Dana gave him a little pat on the shoulder.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

A few people nodded, and Rohini saw Dana looking in her direction with a little smile.

"It is my belief- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

And he sat once more.

The rest of the week passed in a very odd trance-like common state; the days went slowly, the corridors quieter than usual, people having to force a smile on their faces. Only a few Slytherins seemed unaffected by the news, and Rohini knew perfectly well why.

"Hey, Potter. Scared of dying like Diggory now?"

Rohini froze as she closed the bathroom door. Silence fell around them as she slowly turned to glare at Malfoy and his gang.

"What did you say?" She asked in a slow, menacing voice. Padma put a warning hand on her arm, but Rohini shrugged it off.

Malfoy stepped closer, a smug smile on his face.

"I said, can't you hurry up and die, too? Or should it be your stupid brother, first? Will he cry, just like Diggory probably di-"

The punch had been so violent, blood splat from Malfoy's nose as he fell backward, Rohini blocking him as she punched him again; it was as if the blank state she had been in for the past few days had suddenly been replaced by a burning anger.

Screaming, the rat tried to protect his face, already sobbing, but Rohini grabbed a book he had dropped and hit him with that, too.

"What's happening he- POTTER!"

Strong arms grabbed Rohini from behind and pulled her away from Malfoy's pitiful form and from the rest of the crowd.

"FUCK YOU!" Rohini shouted angrily. "FUCK YOU, AND YOUR DEATH EATER OF FATHER!"

"ROHINI POTTER!" Professor McGonagall called, outraged as she pushed Rohini in an empty classroom with great difficulties. "Cease this behaviour this instant, Potter! I'd expected better of you, considering-"

"He said he wanted Harry dead!" Rohini shouted. "He said he- he couldn't wait for us to die, just like Cedric!"

"No, he didn't!" McGonagall said, in shock. "He- wait here for me, Miss Potter. Your behaviour is inexcusable, and I will give you a word about it, but I need to have a talk with Severus and Mr. Malfoy first."

And she left, slamming the door behind, leaving Rohini alone.

Shaking, Rohini passed a sweaty hand over her face as she remembered how angry she had been, just a moment ago. How she had wanted so badly to hurt Malfoy, to make him regret what he had just say…

"I'm turning just like him." Rohini realised, horrified. "Crap, I'm turning just like them."

She let herself fell on a chair, ignoring the dust that will get stick to her cloak. She waited for Professor McGonagall to come back, but it's a different person that opened the door.

"Professor Moody?" She asked, confused as the man came in with a grunt. "I…I didn't expect you to come in."

"I might have heard what have just happened as Minerva took that damn ferret to Severus. If it was just me-"A shadow passed on his face, and Rohini had no difficulties imagining what kind of punishment he'd give Malfoy.

Mad Eye took a seat next to Rohini with a sigh.

"Potter, there's something that's bothering me 'bout ya." He said, straight to the point.

"I- what?" Rohini stuttered, confused.

"Your anger, Potter." Professor Moody said, leaning closer and looking at Rohini with a grave expression. "I've heard talks about it more than once; bright girl that you are, very smart. But you're full of anger, and you can't control that very well, can't you?"

"I don't-"

"I've seen Malfoy's face, Potter, Magic eye or not." Moody cut her. "Got it coming, of course. But now isn't the time for you or your brother to get that kind of reputation, not with the storm coming at you two."

"Harry has nothing to do with it." Rohini said shortly.

"That's where you're wrong." Mad Eye scolded her, waving his cane. "You and he go together; you're two faces of the same medal for this world; you can't give those vultures more reason to pry on you two; and disfiguring the heir of one of the most powerful wizard family, as satisfying as it is, is painting an ever bigger target on your back."

Rohini said nothing.

"What I mean is, anger is good. Justice and anger, survival instinct… that will keep you going. That will protect you, but only if you use it well." Professor Moody said, before standing up with a grunt.

"Understand?"

"I do." Rohini said with a nod. "Thank you, Professor."

"No needs for that." Moody grumbled, ready to leave. "Oh, and Potter?"

"Yes, Professor?"

"Ten points to Ravenclaw; you did a good job with those punches." He said with a grin before closing the door behind him.

Professor McGonagall's lecture hadn't been a pleasant moment, but Rohini understood the point of both talks; they were right about her anger: she had to use it, but use it wisely. It had to be a weapon to serve her, not to stab her.

She wasn't sure exactly how to do so, not yet, but she will do her best to understand that. For herself, and for Harry especially; she would do everything to protect him from Voldemort, and the rest of the world if she had to.

Finally, the last day came. Rohini woke up early for the occasion, needing to pack her trunk. She wasn't sure what to do with the money she won for being the Triwizard champion. After all, it didn't feel like she deserved any of it.

"Maybe I could send it to Padfoot." She said as they all waited in the crowded entrance all. "I mean, he could get fake papers or something, and use it to live happily under a fake name."

"'Roini!"

She looked around. Fleur Delacour was hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across the grounds, Rohini could see Hagrid helping Madame Maxime to back two of the giant horses into their harness. The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take off.

"We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur as she reached her, holding out her hand. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."

"It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled.

"Ron is right; though if you will work on your English, I should probably improve my French." Rohini said and Fleur laughed lightly.

"Good-bye, Roini, 'Arry," said Fleur, turning to go. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you!"

"Oh Reyvooar!" Rohini said, amusing everybody with her poor accent.

They watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight.

"You know, I'll miss eating with them." Padma said. "It was nice, to have them sit at the Ravenclaw table."

"Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"

"Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."

They turned to see Krum and Dana standing there, probably feeling too warm under such a sun while wearing their thick fur.

"Could I have a vord?" Krum asked Hermione.

"Oh...yes...all right," said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and out of sight.

"Don't worry, he's just saying goodbye." Dana said to Ron who grumbled something incoherent. Then, she turned to Rohini and Padma. "I will miss you both. Especially my little saviour in shiny armour." She added with a wink and Rohini found herself grinning back. "Oh, someone else wanted to say goodbye, too!"

"Who?" Rohini asked, tilting her head as Dana smiled mysteriously before pulling something out of her pocket. "Tada!"

"Oh, she is bigger now!" Rohini said as she recognised the dragon model she had given to Dana, back after the First Task.

"I know right? I can't wait to see how big she can get!" Dana said excitingly. "I named her Little Knight." She added with a wink.

"Neat." Rohini said with a grin before pulling Dana into a tight embrace. "I'll miss you, Dana."

"I'll miss you too, Rohi'." Dana said, hugging Rohini tightly before taking a step back. "But we'll write to each other, 'k?"

"Of course! And I'm sure Ginny will want to write to you, too!"

"Make sure they don't forget." Dana told Harry and Ron with a teasing smile. "Well, it's time for me to go. Goodbye, everyone. Goodbye, Rohini." And she bowed, taking Rohini's hand to give it a final kiss.

"Viktor, hurry man!" She told her cousin who was coming back with Hermione. "The ship will leave without us if we don't go now!"

"I liked Diggory," said Krum abruptly to Rohini. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang - with Karkaroff," he added, scowling. "Good luck."

"You too." Rohini said. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Rohini's hands, then Harry's, and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. Krum had already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"

Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.

They watched as the two cousins disappeared into the distance and Rohini sighed, resting her head against Padma's shoulder.

The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. They had managed to get a compartment to themselves, though it was quite crowded between Harry, Rohini, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Padma, Luna, and the Weasley twins.

Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. As for Thranduil, he was going from laps to laps, asking to be scratched between the ears.

They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived.

When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there.

"Any nasty words 'bout me?" Rohini asked tiredly.

"There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."

"He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Harry. "Not on a story like this."

"Yeah, it's too big of a fish for her." Ginny grimaced.

"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."

"What are you talking about?" said Ron.

"Hermione, did you plan her murder without telling us, or something?" Rohini asked, exchanging a slightly concerned look with Harry.

"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush.

"How was she doing it?" said Harry and Rohini at once.

"How did you find out?" said Ron, staring at her.

"Tell us!" Fred and George asked, eyes shining with interest.

"Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea, Harry," she said.

"Did I?" said Harry, perplexed. "How?"

"Bugging," said Hermione happily.

"But you said they didn't work -"

"Oh not electronic bugs," said Hermione. "No, you see...Rita Skeeter" - Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph - "is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn -"

Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out other bag.

"- into a beetle."

"You're kidding," said Ron. "You haven't...she's not..."

"Oh yes she is," said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them.

Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle.

"That's never - you're kidding -" Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes as his brothers burst in laugh.

"No, I'm not," said Hermione, beaming. "I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."

"Damn, you're right!" Rohini laughed. "How does it feels, to be the centre of unwanted attention, you stupid bug?"

"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!" Harry realised.

"Exactly," said Hermione. "And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."

"When we saw Malfoy under that tree..." said Ron slowly.

"He was talking to her, in his hand," said Hermione. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid."

Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass.

"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."

Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag.

The door of the compartment slid open.

"Very clever, Granger." said Draco Malfoy.

Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing.

Rohini stood up, her wand already out.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" She asked coldly as Harry and Padma stood up behind her. "Do you miss your broken nose already? I can arrange that."

"Watch your tongue, Potter." said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and feel like you're on top of the world again. Big deal."

His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.

"Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all three of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

"Get out." said Harry. This time, it was Rohini who waved at him to stay calm.

"You've picked the losing side, Potters! Both of you! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "Too late now, Harry Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - Diggory was the f-"

It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Rohini blinked and looked down at the floor.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. Rohini looked at her friends, and realised all of them had used their wands.

"For once, it wasn't me." She said.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Harry and Ginny.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."

"Agreed." Rohini said, helping the twins to kick, roll, and push the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle - each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit - out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.

They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask them.

"You going to tell us, then?" he said to George. "Who you were blackmailing?"

"Oh," said George darkly. "That."

"It doesn't matter," said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."

"We've given up," said George, shrugging.

"Oh come on! Even more reasons to tell us!" Rohini said.

They kept asking and finally, Fred said, "All right, all right, if you really want to know...it was Ludo Bagman."

"Bagman?" said Harry sharply. "Are you saying he was involved in -"

"Nah," said George gloomily. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."

"Well, what, then?" said Ron.

Fred hesitated, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"

"Yeah," said Harry and Ron slowly.

"No." Rohini said, and everybody groaned at her joke.

"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."

"So?"

"So," said Fred impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!"

"But - it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" said Hermione.

George laughed very bitterly.

"Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."

"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."

"So we asked for our money back," said George glowering.

"He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.

"Right in one," said Fred.

"But that was all your savings!" said Ron.

"This jerk!" Rohini spat. "I've always despised him!"

"Tell me about it," said George. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"

"How?" said Rohini.

"He put a bet on you, Rohi," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."

"So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" said Rohini. "This little cheater! Well - I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"

"Nope," said George, shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task."

George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again.

"Still, is there really no way for you to get your money back?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"Not a single chance." Fred said moodily.

"I know!" Rohini said, clapping her hands. "Boys, feeling up for one last gambling game?"

"But we have no-"

"I'm the one betting. Here; it's a Muggle coin. So, if it falls on this side, I win."

"What do you win?" Fred asked, confused. "We have no money, we told yo-"

"I win one of your fake magic wand. Deal?"

"Deal. But what do we win?"

"You'll see if you do." Rohini said with a wink. "Ready?"

"Ready!" The twins said, looking intrigued. Rohini threw the coin, caught it with one hand, and put it on her wrist for everybody to see.

"We won!" The twins laughed. "So, what's the prize? The right to kick Bagman in the shins if he ever shows up again?"

"Even better." Rohini assured them before trusting a sack into the twins' hands. "Here; I've never fully payed you back for the First Task, did I?"

"You're crazy," said George after taking a look inside the sack. "Rohi-"

"You won it, so keep it and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."

"She is crazy." Fred said in an almost awed voice.

"Boys, please. Neither Harry nor I need it, ok? And with whatever dark time is coming to us, I'm sure people will need your little tricks to cheer up, ok?"

"Rohini is right. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long." Harry said, backing up his sister.

"Rohini," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."

"Oh, just take it." Ron grumbled, looking slightly envious but understanding Rohini's decision. "They're right, ya know. Think how many Canary Creams that is."

"Just don't tell your mum where you got it...although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it..."

"You, Rohini Middle name Potter, is too much." Fred sighed.

"Seriously, thanks." George said, looking grateful.

"Lily." Rohini smiled. "It's Rohini Lily Potter."

The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough, everybody speculating about the Weasleys next creations and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. They all struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks, Rohini making sure to crush Malfoy's fingers under her feet.

"Anyway to show our eternal gratefulness to you?" Fred whispered to Rohini as they wait for their turn to cross the barrier.

"Well, yeah: make sure to keep enough money to treat your family and yourself, ok? You all deserve it." Rohini said and George ruffled through her hair before crossing the barrier with his brother. Left alone, Rohini took a moment to breathe.

She wasn't sure what to expect, once she would have crossed the barrier. Away from Hogwarts, she knew Harry and she would be more at risk, a target painted on their back as Mad Eye had said.

But she will be ready; she had to.

Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Patil were close by him. Molly hugged the twins very tightly when she saw them and whispered in their ear that " Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry, Rohini."

"See you. Harry," said Ron, clapping him on the back. "Bye Rohini."

"'Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek before doing the same to Rohini. "Don't forget to write!"

"You know I never do." Rohini said cheekily.

"Rohini - thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.

Rohini winked at them, before turning to Mrs. Patil and her daughter.

"Padma told me everything." Mrs. Patil said before hugging Rohini tightly. "I will keep an eye on you from afar. Stay safe, and know that you are always welcome home, Rohini."

"Yeah, you're pretty much family at this point." Parvati laughed.

"Thanks, Parvati." Rohini said, blushing. Then, she turned to Padma. "I'll miss you, as always."

"I'll be closer than you think." Padma said, pulling the hair tie holding her hair in a ponytail and passing it around Rohini's wrist. "See? Always with you."

"Always." Rohini smiled before giving her best friend one last hug. "Goodbye, everyone!"

And with one last wave, she and Harry followed Uncle Vernon silently from the station and into the car.

Sitting side by side, the twins took each other hands, knowing what the other was thinking.

War was coming, sooner or later. They will have to fight, ready or not. But they will not be alone; their friends, their newfound families… they will protect them, and be protected.

Their enemies better be ready, Rohini thought as she glanced by the window at the busy street, for she and Harry were still together, the two faces of a same medal, the disturber twins of the Universe.

The twins who lived, and who will keep living.


End file.
